Astrid's Heart (Rewrite)
by Firelily53
Summary: This is a rewrite of my story, Code: Astrid's heart. Astrid transfers to Kadic academy and on her first day encounters many different people, including Xana. What happens when her seemingly poisoned life is mixed with life in Lyoko? And what if Lyoko was the needle that poisoned her? The bonds she makes are her safety net. Rated T for curse words and idk just in case? XD
1. Chapter 1

_Who am I?_

_It's asked everyday, but I'll never have an answer._

_I've never known who I was, not since that day. The day they found me lying there, amidst the rubble. What used to be my part time job. Now my reason for not living as much as I should have. My excuse for throwing my life away._

_They never found the bodies of my co workers, they only found me. I, myself searched the rubble for them, because my brother was amongst them, but it was futile. They tried to ask me what happened, but how should I know! I was only there! I only saw what happened! So why can't I even remember!? They speculate a terrorist threat, but I know they're dubious. They suspect, they hope, that one day my memory will return to me._

_Who knows?_

_Yet here I am eleven years later, this being the second time I've woken up to my world ending and beginning at once. They simply pat my back and congratulate me, ask me question, and tell me how they never thought I would __wake up._

_Why would I need to wake up? I thought I was on my way to the woods, to meet Alex. Last time I checked I was fourteen, now they tell me I'm twenty four. Last time I checked I was in the woods, now they tell me I've been asleep for ten years. Last time I checked I had a boyfriend, now he's married someone else while I was drifting. Last time I checked things like this didn't happen, but they tell me they __can't explain it."_

_Looks like __the only way to get the answer is to discover it myself._

_'Who am I?'_

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**Hey guys, I don't know if you can tell yet but I am rewriting my favorite story, Code: Astrid's Heart. Step #1: come up with a better title XD. But anyway, Yep. Rewriting this is going to take a while. Lately I've had one of those periods in my life where I have to drop something entirely to keep up with everything else. Unfortunately if i'm ever going to fulfill my dream of writing m****y own stories I had to let go of the fanfiction. Anyway hopefully I'll be able to pick up speed with this FF and get more done! I'll discuss more plans for it at the bottom ㈇1 of the chapter, above ️ is just a little intro thing I've got in mind. Anyway, enjoy!**

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"Astrid Hax correct?" The lady at the front desk asked. I get the feeling she doesn't like me very much but she is still very helpful. Smiling, I nod and hand the finished form to her.

"Yes ma'am." I say politely but the harsh look she has doesn't soften. Not like it matters, I doubt I would be seeing her very much at this school anyway. Yep that's right, I'm transfering to a new school today, exciting right? A new start, a clean slate.

"Alright then, here is you schedule and here's a map. Your first class of the day will be starting soon so I suggest you don't take any detours getting there." After taking the papers I glance over it once before quickly scurrying out of the office with my duffle slung over my shoulder.

"That's one part down." I say my voice chaging a bit. When the orphanage gave me the chance to stay at a dorm school, probably because im a problem student, I jumped at the word. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was stopping me from being free of that place, at least for a while.

I look down at my papers and find the one with my dorm number on it, I share a room with someone, but since they are in class I most likely won't see them until later. Perfect time to go and settle in, despite what the lady said I have _plenty _of time to deposit my things in the room.

Step by step, wrong turn after wrong turn, and hallway after hallway I finally find the dorms. Then, with me taking extreme caution, I find my dorm. I slide the key in the door and close my eyes before I opened it. This it it, my new home, my new life, right in my grasp.

_*click* _The door opens and the room before me doesn't disspoint. It isn't luxorious or anything, at least it won't be to anyone else. Having lived in a full eight bedroom room since I was 2, it's so beautiful I could cry.

I check the watch on my left wrist, I'll have to run to class. It was definitely worth it, though. Plopping my duffle on the bed I fish out my school-satchel thing the school gave me and slip in the necessities.

Before I leave I him, I can take a quick look around. Snooping around my side, which was obvious because it was untouched, I stood infront of the dresser with a mirror on it. Staring back at me with a giddily happy smile on her face is me.

I had to have inherited it from my parents, but I have the worst facial features. Don't get me wrong a lot of bullies have said I have a fairly pretty face, but the pale skin, silver hair and white eyes butchers it. My hair also has absolutely no sense of pity, so I normally have to settle for a simple ponytail.

I'm rather tall, at least for a girl. However, that's never been very attractive either. It's not very shocking I've only had one boyfriend, and even he left me.

Five minutes later I'm running down the hallways and glancing between what's ahead of me and what's on this useless peice of shit. Oh, I meant the map the woman gave me, my bad. In fact, I was so distracted that I didn't the blonde haired boy in front of me.

(Not until I ran into him at least.)

"Omphh!" Is the noise a blonde haired boy makes when you somersault over him.

"Aack!" Is the sound a silver haired girl makes when you manage to vault her into the air.

(How do you even do that? Must have amazing reflexes!)

"Are you alright?" The boy asks. Before I flare up ,because instead of taking a hit he decided to deflect me into a floor, I bite my tongue. I was the one who ran into him after all.

"Yeah..are you?" I ask standing up and brushing my skirt off. My worn down jeans and jacket is okay and you can't mess up these shoes any more than they already are. The boy mutters an 'a-okay'. "Sorry for running into you, I'm on my way to Mrs. Hertz class, and I'm slightly behind schedule."

"Mrs. Hertz class? I'm on my way there too but you aren't in that class..." The boy trails off as we both turn to survey each other at the same time. Our eyes meet, both widen.

"...Yeah..I'm new here, it's my first day. " I say slowly, there's not many times I'm at a loss for words but this is one of those times. The boy has his hair spiking up with a purple star in the middle. (I've never understood fashion trends anyway) He was shorter than me, and was a little scrawny.

"Uhh..*ahem*, right. That makes sense. I'm sorry I uh, pushed you away...force of habit." He says in an awkward tone. Raising an amused eyebrow at whatever 'force of habit' meant I crack a smile.

"Sure. Anyway...we're going to be late to class.." I say, all feelings of grudge for being pushed down dissapear. (Hey, I ran into him right!?)

"Probably...oh shit! Yes we are, let's run I can show you where the class is." He says and I laugh at his sudden realization. We laugh and playfully push and shoved each other all the way there. He jokes about what Mrs. Hertz class will be like, and I can hardly contain myself. IN the end we are late, but he comes up with a plan.

"Odd, you're late..again! What's the meaning of this!? I have given you _too_ many chances- Oh, and who's this? Our new classmate?**"** Her attitude changes from angry to welcoming. Meanwhile the boy-Odd I guess- is cringing and I'm leaning back a bit, surprised at her ferocious response.

"Um, right, hi. I met Odd in the hallway, he helped me get here when I was lost, so that's why he's was late." I explain and she nods.

"Alright Odd get to your seat. Everyone else this is our newest student! She will be joining us here for the rest of the year! Will you introduce yourself?"

"My name's Astrid." I say as I look around the classroom. Odd sits down at an empty double desk. Around the room theres a brown haired boy, a blonde kid with glasses, a pink haired girl (Hey it's good to know I'm not the only one with wonky hair styles, although mine isn't optional.), and a girl that looks way too snooty for her own good (But I'm not one to judge). Nice variety this school has.

"Thank you for welcoming me into your school!"

Mrs. Hertz beams and the class murmurs their welcomings, meanwhile I'm mentally breaking down...on the inside. She instructs me to sit next to Odd, for better or for worse, and I deflate with releif.

"Alright, today I want you to take out your text books and turn to page 382.." Mrs. Hertz starts class and Odd pulls out a text book for me from my desk. I smile a 'thank you' and look up to catch the brown haired boy infront of me glancing back at me.

(Not unsettling at all.)

By the time this class was over I had caught the eyes of _at least _half of the people in the damn class. I grab my bag and pull out my schedule, thank goodness it is promptly plucked from my hands by the ever-so-present Odd.

"Hey! What are you doing?" I ask and spin around to see him scanning my paper. I put a hand on my hip and wait for him to finish his business. You know, with _my_ schedule.

"Yep, just as I hoped." He says and looks up with a grin. My annoyed expression evaporates and I unconsciously remove my hand from my hip, what now?

"What is?"

"You have the same classes as us! Well almost, while we have study hall you have a band class. Pretty neat, what instrument do you play?" He asks and I can't help myself from grinning. Okay maybe Odd isn't so bad.

"She does? That's cool." The brown haired boy says.

"Pretty coincidental huh?" The blonde glasses boy comments. He puts an emphasis on 'coincidental', send a shiver up my spine.

"Astrid this is Ulrich," he indicates to the brown haired boy. "This is Jeremy", he pushes up his glasses. "And coming up behind him is Aelita." Pinky walks up and waves shyly.

Hey isn't 'Aelita' the name of my roommate? Maybe...I can't remember.

"Nice to meet you! Do you mind if I walk to the next class with you? The map they gave me is some kind of ploy to get new kids lost in the halls forever." I joke and the four laugh (Probably out of pity).

"Speaking of which we should probably get going." Aelita reminds us and with that we're on our way to the next classroom. The same thing happens for that class, introducing myself and then taking whatever seat was empty.

After three classes we get an hour long period for lunch. A little bit excessive but I suppose there's a reason. I say goodbye to my four companions and head to find where my next class will be, Band. Mostly I just want so make sure my trumpet it is safe and sound!

Once I speak with the band director a bit and check up on my trumpet I make my way to eat lunch. For the map's credit, it does point out which direction the lunch room is...at least I hope thats the lunch room.

"William, enough with carrying all that by yourself, we have to get to lunch soon and your going to drop them!" A girls voice scolds someone.

"Yumi, we have plenty of time for lunch and I promised Mr. Bennard I'd this for him." The boy, apparently Wlliam, says. I should probably watch out for them, but looking around I can't see them anywhere! Where are they?

Turning the corner sharply, thinking it'd be the one place they weren't, I come right into contact with two stacks of six boxes being carried by William. Well, were being carried, until I collide with them and end up on the ground with boxes falling ontop of me.

(How should _I_ have known he was right there?!)

Thankfully the boxes are empty, but these people look like upperclassmen and I don't think this'll end up like it did with Odd. Remembering the upperclassmen I had to deal wth at my old school made me groan with disgust. My eyes are closed and I rub the back of my head where it was hit.

"Oh hey, sorry about that. You alright there?" William asks and I open my eyes to find a hand offering to help me up. I think for a few seconds before I stand without his help. (Like I'd fall for that trick.)

He did apologize, even though I was the one who ran into him. He shouldn't have been walking with so many boxes like that though. I decide on not saying anything but instead helping pick up the boxes. Once they're all stacked for him to carelessly carry again I turn and look at them.

"Sorry about that, could you tell me which way the cafeteria is?" Looking at them more closely I can see that William is blacked haired and tall. He looks like someone you don't want to mess with in a fight, but at the same time I don't feel like I would find myself in one with him. The 'Yumi' girl has black hair also, in fact she has black everything!

"Mmhmm, it's that way," Yumi says pointing down the hallway. Through a window I can see a separated building that has students hanging around it. Bingo. "We can show you the way if you wait for us."

"Oh, no thanks. I'll find my way on my own." I say hoping I don't sound like I'm egoistic. Honestly I'm just really hungry and want to get moving. Making my way into the cafeteria I happily pluck a tray from the pile and go through the line. This looks like it'll be a good school, just judging by the cafeteria food. It's certainly better than before!

"Where should I sit?" I mutter to myself. It doesn't really matter does it? I don't feel very social today so I'll just pick an empty table to sit at. After all they haven't expressed any seating chart yet so I assume it's free seating.

I look around the lunch room as I eat, trying to spot the different clicks and friend groups. My eyes end up falling on a table near the window. Sitting at it are the people I met earlier, Odd and them. Looking closely...hey Yumi's there too! Wow what a coincidence... I guess it's not a surprise she got here before me. It's not like it was all smooth sailing finding my way here.

Just as I'm about to look away (What? I'm not some stalker.) the boy named Jerey pulls out his laptop. All of them at the table simultaneously become quiet and appear to grow concerned with it. What could be so important about a computer anyway?

Jeremy says something and they immediately look like a well oiled machine. Giving yet also accepting instructions to and from each other, it must be serious. Odd stands up and unconsciously I push my chair back.

What the heck? Why'd I just do that? Force of habit? I remember the crucial moments at the lab, my old part time job. My friends and I would always act most like a team on the very important days.

"Mrs. Hax?" A strained and static-ey voice says from behind me. I shift and find myself looking at a middle-age man in a gym suit. He looks down at me, causing me to stand up immediately.

(Hey, who likes being looked down at?)

"..Yes sir?" I ask hesitantly. Something doesn't seem right. I can't pinpoint it exactly, but it's like that feeling when you're lost in a crowd and can't find the people you're with. You know it's dangerous but nothing is immediatly wrong.

"We forgot to have you sign the last few forms, please come with me." He leads me out of the cafeteria and I breifly wonder what will happen to my lunch, but hey if a teacher doesn't care why should I?

_If _he's a teacher, something seems shifty about a teacher wearing a gym suit. What does he teach? Gym I guess. What I notice more, though, is that he doesn't flinch, blink, or change tempo with his footsteps. That's impressive, and also very suspicious.

"Um, are you sure this is the way to the office? I mean I know I'm new but I could've sworn it was that way." I say and point in then direction of the main building. He looks back at me and stops infront of what looks like a janitors office.

I let out a surprised yelp when he grabs my wrist and opens the door at the same time. Just so you know I valiantly kick his legs and pound his arm with my free hand, but unfortunately he over powers and shoves me into the closet. Dread sets in with the ominous sound of a lock clicking.

"Hey! What kind of cruel joke is this!?" But something tells me it's not a joke. My stomach sinks and my instinct is to thrash around in the dark, enclosed space. "Let me out!" I yell and pound on the door. What. The. Hell!?

Sinking to the ground my knees make an arrow like shape when I sit. My arms wrap around myself and I breath a little too heavily. While I sat there hopelessly shaking I recall the man's eyes. I know what's wrong about them, there was some star shaped symbol in them.

"Somebody help me..."

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**Wow, if anyone here read the first chapter of then original (which sucks I don't recommend reading it), then you know that this is similar, definitely a rewrite, but different too. I remember when I first wrote that stir I was needing something to help me escape from egoistic school life. I need the same thing now, and that's why im rewriting this. I really hope everyone reading enjoys, thanks! 3**


	2. Chapter 2

What_ can I do to help the world?_

_Why should I throw my life away just because I've met a bump in the road? Who says this is as far as I can go?_

_I want to do something, make a difference in the world. If I'm given the chance I can create something great._

_But what?_

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**Hiya! This is going to soon be the start of chapter 2, but first I want to answer the reviews I've gotten from chapter 1!**

**To: **grandprincessanastasiaromanov5 **Thanks! I really hope I can make all this better as I go on!**

**To: **The lovely Guest-(just saying guest felt wrong XD) **Thank you very much! ****Yes I am going to rewrite book 2, I decided that I ****would rewrite it all after the major cringe fest I had rereading the first chapter of AH. I also didn't like where book 2 was heading, I'll leave it up for anyone that wants to read it but if you look it'll say it's being rewritten like AH. I'm very sorry for stopping without finishing it but I really think I can improve the entire project this way! **

**I hope everyone who reviews, favorites, follows, or even quietly reads will continue with me through this project! It means a lot to wake up to new reviews and F&amp;F's, thank you so, so much!**

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Odd's POV

"Ladies and gentleman I have spotted our Xana Attack." I say in my best announcer voice, watching Astrid disappear with Jim ahead of her. This was not good, in any way.

"I saw it too, but what does Xana have against her? It's literally her first day." Ulrich says and Aelita sighs.

"Does it matter? For now let's makes sure she survives her first day!" Yumi speaks intently and I nod.

"What about this, Ulrich and I will keep her out of trouble, you three deactivate the tower." I say and Jeremy looks up with a teasing expression.

"Wow, an actual plan for once. Motivated at all?" He asks and I roll my eyes.

"Haha very funny Einstein."

"Hey you two, less debating more moving. I can protect Aelita just fine on my own so let's get going." Yumi says and with that Ulrich and I are out of the cafeteria and hot on Astrid's trail.

"What could Xana want with Astrid? He's attacked some people before but this..this is just strange!" Ulric asks breathlessly. We're racing through the halls, looking in each room as we pass by them.

"Whatever it is let's keep him from getting far with his plans!" I say and stop abruptly when a yelp echoes softly throughout the building. Sharing a look with Ulrich we nod and sneak to different side of an entrance to a hallway. Ulrich peaks out and I wait for him to tell me if they're there.

Five seconds...ten seconds...Ulrich turns to me and gives me a thumbs up. We hear pounding and muffled yelling, but we wait until Xanified Jim is walking out of the hallway. Then we strike, Ulrich pushes him down with a blow to the head and I to the legs.

"The bigger they are the harder they fall!" I exclaim, very satisfied with the outcome of our attack. Even with Xana possessing him he would stay down for a minute.

"Yes but that doesn't mean they won't get back up! I'll take care of Jim, you get Astrid!" He shifts into a bracing position and shoes me away. I flash him a grin, what's the rush? It's not like she's in any danger...is she?

"Astrid!?" Where is she anyway? Glancing at the closet on the right side of the hallway I narrow my eyes. She isn't...is she? My sixth sense tingles, pushing towards the door. I jiggle the knob a bit and hear shuffling from inside.

"W-who's there?" Her voice is muffled by the door but it sounds frightened and desperate, guilt washes over me. How could I have thought she wasn't in any danger? If I was attacked by a gym teacher in my first day of school I'd be pretty freaked too.

"It is I! Odd, your wonderful rescuer! Sit tight and I'll get you out of there! I don't suppose you know where a key is, do you?" I joke, even though I don't think there'll be any keys lying around. Besides I don't think it's locked anyway, so why won't it open?

I bend down to look through the key hole, but just glancing at it is enough. Great, just great. The inside of the lock is thoroughly melted...how did even manage that!? Stopping to think for a second I count off all my options.

A: Try and break down the door.

B: Wait for jeremy to perform a return to the past.

Or C: Coach Astrid to do some classic escaping and climb through the vents.

Glancing over at Ulrich is all I need to see his hands are full. So I have to pick one of them. Or I can come up with something better. Maybe-

"...Odd? This door isn't very sturdy, if we work together do you think we could kick it down?" She asks hesitantly and I blink for a second. "Odd? Are you there?!"

"Of course! Sounds like a plan, I'll push and you pull!" Her words send a jolt through me. She sounds really scared. It's just a closet but maybe there's more that's wrong. Maybe she's scared of something more than just her situation?

My first hit on the door makes me question my reason for agreeing to this. My second hit really makes me question this. My third hit makes my right side scream at me to stop. Luckily, my fourth hit does the job.

The door swings open and I crash right through until I'm slamming head first into cleaning equipment. I wince and rub my shoulder. It hurts but it was so worth it. You just can't get an 'I just broke down a door' feeling from anything else. Accept maybe defeating a virtual monster. That's pretty cool too.

"Odd! I could use some help over here!" Ulrich calls and I stand up. No time for a break huh? It doesn't take long for me to find Astrid sitting amongst destroyed cleaning supplies too. She looks up at me holding her head.

"Stay here okay?" I tell her but maybe that wasn't the best thing to say. "Or, you know, just- don't get in our way!" She raises an eyebrow, but I hardly have enough time to destroy myself for saying something so arrogant. In the doorway of the closet stands a very angry looking Xanified Jim.

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Astrid's POV

When I was blown back by Odd breaking down the door my heart skipped two beats. The sense of danger, the confusion- it all feels too familiar!

"Stay here okay?" He say but the thought of staying in this closet scares me more than whatever is out there. Odd looks like he's revising what he said, I wonder if he thinks that too? "Or, you know, just- don't get in our way!"

I raise an eyebrow but don't have the right state of mind to make any sort of comeback. When I stand up Odd's attention is already diverted, shocker.

"Hey Xana! Next time why don't you be more creative with who you decide to posses! Or do you just have a thing for big, ugly gym teachers!?" I recognize Ulrich's voice but don't understand what he's saying.

(Xana!? Posses!? What does he mean by all of this!?)

Mr. Gym teacher stands in the doorway of our closet, blocking us from getting out. At this point I'm too distracted by everyone to be afraid anymore. Hey maybe I can help by using some of this cleaning supplies!

Odd starts to attack and I find some pretty useful things. Most of which is a broom, a mop, a bucket, and a spray bottle! Lucky me.

When I glance out the door I immediatly see Odd take a flying jump kick into the man's chest. What's wrong with this guy, he doesn't even look affected by it! Ulrich comes up from behind and performs some type of fighting style moves that I can't even begin to name.

"Alright," I say under my breath, "my turn!" I throw the bucket out, aiming for the man's head. It falls on top of it and succeeds at the task of impairing his vision for me. I use the mop to jab at him from the side.

"Astrid-What are you doing!?" Ulrich exclaims. I look over and shrug at him before bracing myself and groaning. The man throws off the bucket and turns toward me. Thankfully Ulrich managed to catch the bucket...with his face, and falls back. Odd runs at the man but he knocks Odd down before he can do anything.

That leaves me. I turn the mop around so the handle points toward me and swing a full blow into his chest. The man looks dazed for a second but quickly recovers and grabs at the mop.

After that it's a tug of war battle, which obviously the non-super strengthed girl won't win. Successfully ripping it out of my hand he takes the advantage and uses it. I take a few steps back but he grabs my shoulders.

It takes me a moment to figure out what he's trying to do but when he does it I feel it. Electricity. How he manages to electrify me is beyond my imagination but it's not like I had time to think about it anyway. I don't even hear myself scream, at least I think I scream.

Once he let's go of me I sink to the ground, breathing heavily. I think I hear someone call my name but I'm not sure. I think...I understand why he told me to stay out of it. A few words breach my mental confusion and I hear 'It'll be okay!'. After that light engulfs me and I fall into a sharp unconsciousness. Floating in nothing.

* * *

Slowly, the pain eases and I start to blink the world back in. Two fuzzy figures come into view and the ground beneath me is solid again. I suck in a breath and stare wide-eyed at the boxes falling around me.

What? ...What!?... WHAT?! Where- when am I?!

Infront of me stands two upperclassemen and lots of boxes are scattered around me. Twelve to be exact. A hand appears infront of me again, this time I take it.

"Oh wow, sorry about that. Are you alright? You don't look so good." William says while he helps me up. I just blink at him for a moment. Why am I back here!? Suddenly realize how strange I must look and nod at him.

"Yeah I'm fine. Thanks for helping me up um, here I'll help get the boxes for you!" I say nervously and hastily pick up the boxes.

"No problem, Hey are you sure your okay?" He asks again and this time I look at him and really see him for the first time. My heart beats a little faster and I'll admit I blush a bit.

"Yeah...yes really I'm good! Um, do you know which way the cafeteria is? I'm new.." Even though I already walked the way, so much has happened that I can't remember it very well, at least until Yumi points out which ways it is.. Once she does I remember it clearly, like she wiped mud out of my eyes.

"Mmhmmm, It's that way. What's your name?" Yumi asks. I tell her it's 'Astrid' and she nods.

(That's odd, she didn't say it that way before, well I guess some things have changed...)

"We could take you there if you want." She says and narrows her eyes. Something seems off about her, like she's waiting for something. When I look her in the eyes I get a chill up my spine.

"No thanks, I'll find my way by myself." With that I'm running away from them and down the halls. I find a bathroom I remeber seeing when I first went down here and enter it. Thankfully it's empty, because I can use the privacy.

(So just as a recap my first day was going smoothly until I got attacked by Sir jerk face, and then he electrocuted me.)

Still, it didn't feel as bad as I thought it would've. Being electrocuted I mean. I've been shocked by an outlet before (long story) but it felt different than that. I poke the area on my arm where his hands were and yelp. Wincing I pull my sleeve down and hold my head.

Of course, how did I not expect it? My skin and body appear to be absolutely fine, but when I poke it, it hurts like hell.

My thoughts suddenly drift to an unlikely but useful thing. Yesterday that one group seemed to get some news and then started attacking strangely. After that I was pulled out by Sir jerk face, then Odd and Ulrich followed. Do they know something about why I-we've all been pulled back in time?

I look up and stare at myself in the mirror for a minute. By the time I walk out of the bathroom I grow a determined look on my face, and a plan!

(A bad plan probably, but still a plan.)

This time when I enter the lunch room I sit down at the empty table and watch. Sir jerk face doesn't come today, and the group continues talking like normal throughout the entire lunch. When they stand up to leave I do too and follow them out.

When I walk out of the cafeteria I plan to head to my next class but ask to talk to Odd on the way. To my surprise, however, Odd comes up to me.

"Hey, I wanted to check that you knew the way to your next class." He says in a friendly tone. I smile and nod. How can I find out if he knows anything about this? He has to know something, after all he was right there too.

"Yeah, I've checkled it out a _few_ times" I put a little emphasis on 'few' but he doesn't react to it. "Anyway after this next class we have gym right? Who's the teacher for it?" I ask and he looks away.

"His name's Jim, he wears a sweat suit everywhere, it's kinda cliche, why do you ask?"

(A gym teacher named Jim, why not?)

"No reason, just curious."

"Oh well...how'd you like the food? The hour long lunch is pretty sweet huh?" Suddenly, an idea pops into my head. It's all I can to not act overly excited.

"mmm, it was good. I had some of the lemonade, it was.._electrifying._" His eyes instantly snap back to mine. I smile sweetly and cock my head a bit. "Infact it was almost like I had tasted it _before._ Crazy or what?"

"Y-yeah..." He stutters a bit and I know I've hit a nerve. But how do I deliver the final blow? How do I get him to tell me what's going on?

(At least now I'm certain something _is_ going on.)

"Oh hey, I just remembered, earlier I was asked a riddle and couldn't figured it out, can you help me with it? What does a Gym teacher, a new student, and a janitor's closet all have in common?" He looks and me and just cringes openly, he knows he's lost.

"Astrid..look...I don't know how this happened, I really don't."

"You didn't answer the riddle. How about this. You think about it throughout the day and meet me after class. Would those benches over there work? You can tell me then." I say and then drop the fake smile. He looks behind him at his friends standing just outside the cafeteria.

"I'm sorry, _please _forget it all happened. It's better if you do. Besides it's not like anything did happen, in fact it really didn't happen. It's been erased. I gotta run so bye." He says but before he leaves I stop him.

(How does he expect me to forget this anyway!? Well I guess it's not like I fully understand what happened anyway!)

"Odd! If it's been erased why do I remember it?! Why do my shoulders still hurt from whatever it was that thing did to me?" I say in a hushed yet urgent tone. He looks back at me surprised, but mutters 'fine'. My next smile is filled with releif and his grudging look softens a bit.

I quickly shoulder my bag and hurry to my next class. Band goes by smoothly and so does gym. I can tell Odd must have said something to his friends because I keep catching glances. When Ulrich even starts to walk over to me I turn and quickly strike up a conversation with a nice looking girl beside me.

Once gym is over I immediatly head to the benches I asked to meet at and wait. I decide that I should look normal, at least while I wait. So I pull out my laptop and start checking what kind of shops are around here.

Eventually, after thirty minutes or so, I see Odd walk out of the building...with Jeremy, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita with him. Great, juust peachy. Butterflies practically devour my stomach and I begin to get really, really nervous.

(There goes my confidence, was nice knowing it.)

As they approach me I shut my laptop and slide it back into my bag. They don't look particularly angry, but they don't look too pleased either.

Strangley enough, I think I feel something other than being nervous or afraid. Maybe it's longing? A little while ago something happened to me that caused me to lose all my friends... Why do I suddenly feel like I'm losing them again? It's not like people will ever stay by your side, everybody always leaves you in the end. At least they have for me.

"Y-yo." I say plainly when they reach me. For a second nobody says anything. (Talk about awkward.) Disliking the way they are all standing together I quickly stand up and pull my bag over my shoulder. Being careful not to hit the sore spots on my arms.

"So um, are _all _of you in on this?" I ask hesitantly.

"Yeah. Basically." Ulrich says and scratches the back of his head. For a full minute all you can hear is the scuffing of feet and whispers of conversations from other places.

"Have you ever come in contact with a really advanced computer?" Jeremy says suddenly and my foot shifts back in surprise. What?

"Um...?" I'm at a loss for words.

"Jeremy stop that, you guys are useless with things like this! Scram, me and Aelita will talk to her." Yumi says in a scolding voice. She must be the oldest of all of them, she sounds kinda like a mother. I glance at Odd and lock eyes with him. I raise and eyebrow and he shrugs, it was supposed to be just me and him talking, not everybody he could gather.

(Still I like the idea of talking to Yumi much better. She's more trustworthy than the others.)

"I just want to know why she wasn't affected by the return to the past." Jeremy says and Yumi rolls her eyes. Return to the past? I guess that's what we did, we returned to the past. Suddenly the idea of all of them being some sort of supernatural beings pops into my mind but I push it away.

Still I did work at _that_ place for a while, and before I worked there I would often hang around because my brother worked there. It was only a part time job though, how does that have anything to do with this.

"Jeremy I think Yumi's right, we can explain it to her better." Aelita starts to say but suddenly a defensive look appears in Jeremy's eyes. "Look she already knows about it so it's not like we can hide it from her!"

Jeremy snorts grudgingly but doesn't protest anymore. Does this mean they'll tell me the truth? Can I finally understand what's happening? I turn to look at Odd but he's whispering to Ulrich.

Yumi looks satisfied and finally turns back to me. She smiles and ushers me warmly. "Now that that's settled, let's go to your room. We'll explain it all to you there!"

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**The worst thing about writing long chapters like this is finishing and thinking- Great. Now I get to go back and revise it!-Ugh. I don't know why but I just hate having to revise 3,000 or so words. Anyway since I have no life, I spent most of the day trying to figure out how to write this. It's hard but very fun to try and recreate the characters as best you can. Sorry for any parts that totally throws off a character's personality, but I really wanted to hurry this part up. It's really starting to diverse from the old one. Anyway thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! (I'll get to revising now! *turns on playlist*)**


	3. Chapter 3

_Am__ I alone?_

_Does anybody see me as a possible friend? Does anybody want to know who I am?_

_Will I ever have a strong bond with someone again. Is my heart still fixable? All these questions are burning through my mind, my heart, and my soul. _

_In the end, all it leaves is a hole, that feels more empty than ever._

_Who can fill it?_

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**Hello again! I'll get right to it. (It's way too late!)**

**To: ** The lovely guest **Thank you, and I'm not quite sure if I'll change it or not. I might, just for the sake of something fresh, come up with something else for her lyoko avatar but it really depends on how much her character has changed once we get to lyoko. (Which I am SO excited for!) If you have any ideas I would love to hear them. I'm thinking of going deeper into the phycological meaning, so I'll have to figure out what could stand for her, which will take a lot of music, caffeine, and free time to accomplish. Aside from that I will keep her weapons the same unless I have a _very_ good reason to change them. Feel free to ask me anything else you want to know, ❤️**

**To: **Shadowmanipulator7 **You got it! Thanks so much for the support!**

**Aside from that I have a question I want to ask all of _YOU_! I plan to have the following POVs: Astrid, Odd, William, Eric, and possibly (Much later in the story) Emily's (new readers won't know Eric or Emily, they come in much later in the story but aren't essential for you to know right now so don't worry about it). **

**Should I include the rest of the lyoko gang's POV or not? I think it would be a lot of fun but also a lot of work, but I'll gladly take on the extra task if you guys think you'd want to see it! Please tell me what you think, I value every idea a lot. (Seriously I squeal just about every time I see a review or PM) Thanks a bunch! I love you guys!**

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Astrid's POV

"So you _are_ my roommate. I wasn't sure, but your name sounded familiar." I say to Aelita. She, Yumi, and I are sitting in the dorm room. My duffle bag still lies unpacked on my bed.

(Wish I had known earlier.)

"Mmhmmm, I used to have a single dorm but when you enrolled one of the girls living in this room left. Since the girl who previously lived in here wanted a single room I...volunteered to take this room." She says volunteered very carefully. Yumi makes a look of disgust on her face and Aelita puts a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

I'm quiet for moment as I realize what might have happened. She was bullied into changing rooms.

"I'm sorry." I say and Aelita smiles. She seems a lot smarter than you would think. She also gives off a kind of younger sister aura, like you want to protect her.

"It's fine, it wasn't your fault...anyway let's get back to what we came here to do."

"Right. So tell us what you already know, we'll start there." Yumi says and I take a deep breath.

I explain to them what happened after I left the cafeteria. How Odd and Ulrich came and saved me, how the fight went, and how I was electrocuted (or whatever). Then I tell them what happened when suddenly I was back with Yumi and William.

"Right I forgot, that was William. He's nice so don't feel nervous around him." Yumi says and I instantly wonder if she's referring to me not taking his hand the first time.

"Sure, that's good to know. Anyway, I kinda figured that Odd and Ulrich might know something so after I calmed down I sat through lunch and then talked to Odd." I stop and feel my face go red. "I kinda played underhanded to make him spill. But it's not like he really did spill, but um he was a little surprised..." I say and trail off. Yumi and Aelita just laugh and nod.

"Yeah we saw, that was pretty clever." Yumi says and I smile.

"So um, what's going on?" I ask. Stop this Astrid, your letting your guard down. It's okay to get comfortable with them, but don't start thinking you can be their friends. It doesn't work like that for you.

"Lyoko. A virtual world created by Franz Hopper. It's operated by a Super Computer hidden in a factory very close to the school. Inside Lyoko 'lives' a cruel artificial intelligence called 'Xana', originally designed by Frans Hopper as well. As far as we know the only desire it has is to take over the world. It does so by employing virtual monsters to do its bidding. It can also appear in the real world, like it did earlier. During that attack Xana possessed our gym teacher. For some reason Xana went after you, but we don't know why. At least, if we do we hope we're wrong." Aelita says and I blink for a few seconds taking it all in.

"So...you- you five stop Xana from taking over the world? By yourself. If you haven't contacted the government yet...does that mean there's a reason?"

"Exactly. Aelita..is tied to the super computer. We can't shut it off without her shutting off too." Yumi says and I widen my eyes. Wow. That's pretty serious.

"I was actually trapped in the super computer for ten years, then Jeremy found me and Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, and him got me out!" Aelita says and grins. I smile but it's only half. Imagine, ten years of you life gone.

(I crack myself up.)

"Astrid, are you okay?" Yumi asks and I snap out of my inner pity party. I must have looked pretty strange just then.

"Yeah, sorry about that. So if you tell anybody they'll shut it down despite what it'll do to Aelita. They'll say one life is a small fee to pay to keep the world safe, or some shit like that." I say and look at them. "Don't worry. I promise won't tell a soul."

Aelita and Yumi visibly deflate with relief at my promise. I smile and stretch far. They look like they're really good friends, I hope everything goes good for them.

"Wait a second, you said you think you might know why he attacked me...what is it?" I ask and Yumi and Aslita share a glance.

(This cannot be good.)

"I think we should tell her, it's no good keeping secrets from people like this." Aelita says and Yumi sighs.

"You're right, the guys might be mad though."

"Jeremy knows this is the right thing to do. And Ulrich and Odd can't get that mad."

I put my elbow on my knee and bend over to rest my head on my hand.

"I love how you guys can talk about people like they aren't there, it's very entertaining." I say matter of factly and Yumi and Aelita turn back to me. Aelita blushes and Yumi rubs the back of her head.

"Sorry, anyway a few weeks ago we found something in Lyoko, in some file or something right Aelita?" Yumi says and Aelita nods.

"Uhuh. It was information, on you Astrid." When she finishes speaking a chill runs up my spine. Why would their super computer have information on me.

(Its not frightening at all.)

"You mean, like not from the web or anything. Actually, stored in the computer?" I say, admittedly a little creeped out. Aelita nods and I clear my throat.

"We don't know what it means, but we found it a few weeks ago." Yumi says.

The three of us our quiet for a minute. I play at my fingernails but really think about what I should do. Should I do anything?

"So, now what? You seem to have your hands full with Xana and your supercomputer. I guess you don't really want to deal with me. So-" I start to say that'll I'll stay out of their way and stuff but Yumi interrupts me.

"You could help us. We don't know what Xana wants with you, or why information on you is in the supercomputer...but if you're by yourself Xana could attack you at any time. If you're with us we can solve this together." She looks like she's left something off at the end, I have a hunch it was something along the lines of 'We can be friends'.

"Um. That's great and all, but believe it or not I can hold my own. I..Xana won't gets it's way with me! Honestly it'll be better for all of us if I just don't get involved." I say and stand up. "If you ever need help saving the world from time to time I'll help as much as I can, don't get me wrong." I start backing towards the door. "But really, you wouldn't want to be friends with me anyway. Trust me, it hasn't worked out so well for others." With that I'm bolting out the door and down the hallway.

Why? Why do I want to be friends with them so badly!? They say things like 'We found this' and 'A few weeks ago this happened.'. They've got such a good friendship, I would just ruin everything! Besides, they already look like they're doing the impossible, protecting the world from an evil super computer program.

(Any normal person would doubt it, but I'm not really normal.)

So why? If anything they should be suspicious of information of me being in their super computer. Why are they worrying about me? I stop by a water fountain and take a long, cold drink.

"Hey Astrid, where's Yumi and Aelita? Did you guys talk about everything?" A voice I recognize as Odd's sounds from behind me. I wipe water from my lips and turn to look at him.

"Wow you guys are _everywhere _around here. That's actually rather impressive..." I murmur, startled by his sudden appearance. "Yumi and Aelita are in the dorm room." I try to say as indifferently as I can. I'm starting to feel kind of guilty about running out on them.

I should probably explain to them that it really is me that's the problem. Nothing good ever comes to those who are close to me. It's my own personal rule to never get close enough to hurt someone.

"Why aren't you with them? Did they tell you about..." He trails off but it's hard not to know what he means.

"Um, I just needed some fresh air, and yeah they told me about it-" I'm cut off by a very angry looking nurse. This school is just full of surprises. But wait didn't I have something I needed to do in the nurses office...Oh. Shit.

(Great, what else could possibly go wrong in a twenty four hour time period?)

"Mrs. Hax! I have been waiting _for over an hour _in my office for you to come. Then I had to go and find you! We're you not informed that you had to visit me!?" She looks really, really angry. I was supposed to go to her office, wasn't I?

"Um, I'm sorry. No I wasn't told that, or was I? No I thought they told me to do it tomorrow. My mistake, a lot has happened." That's not a lie. A lot has certainly happened.

"I understand you're new but you've got to be more responsible than this." She sighs and the ushers for me to follow. "Come with me, it won't take that long."

Secretly I'm thankful for her getting me out of explaining things to Odd. I cheerfully wave goodbye and jog to catch up to her. She walks at a brisk pace but I keep up. Once we get to her nurse office, which is way bigger than my old school's nurse's office, she pulls out some forms, and a strange looking package. Strange, yet regrettably familiar.

"Alright, we already settled most of this when you sent in your forms, however, this just came in before you arrived today. It's about your asthma. According to this you've mostly gotten over it but your supposed to carry this inhaler just in case." She says and I stop myself from groaning.

"I really don't think it's necessary. I haven't had an attack in 11 years." To be noted, most of those years I was 'unconscious'. She sighs and picks up a note paper-clipped to her forms.

"Mrs. Norman gave me this note informing me to give to you if you said anything like that. Don't worry I haven't read it." I take the note from her and glance through it, about ready to puke by the end.

Mrs. Norman is the head of the orphanage I used to live at. She continues to watch over me like I'm her responsibility. On the note it says '_"That person" specifically instructed that you carry this at all times, just to be safe.'_ What's all this about him caring about me? After mother died he just couldn't wait to throw me and my brother into foster care.

(But I'm getting ahead of myself here.)

"Fine, better safe than sorry huh?" I say playing it off like its nothing big. Inside I feel like I wanna throw up.

"That's the spirit." She says and hands me the inhaler. I stuff it in my jacket pocket, realizing I left my bag in the dorm room. The nurse let's me go after checking a few things and I pull out the inhaler and stare at it.

Why should anyone care about keeping me safe? I'm a bad luck charm, if I die the world would be at least 2% safer. The only thing I can imagine the people at the orphanage feeling is mutual pity and disgust.

I put the inhaler away and walk outside. I don't want to go back to the room, because if either of the two girls are still there I wouldn't know what to say.

Indecisive and emotional I settle on leaning against the side of a building and calming down. Before I know it the whisper of a particular conversation comes into hearing range, and I can't help myself from eaves dropping.

"...don't get it. Why would she run off like that?" Ulrich.

"Gee Ulrich, I wonder. We kind of just dumped a whole bunch of information on her. I would be surprised if she _wasn't_ freaked." Yumi's voice.

(Honestly, these people seriously are everywhere!)

"She wouldn't run and spill all about it to the local police man...would she?" Jeremy asks but I don't feel angry about it.

"She promised she would keep it a secret." Aelita.

"What if it's something else. What if she knew something about the super computer, that she wasn't saying. She's not just randomly in the super computer." Ulrich.

"Didn't we already agree to figure that part out as we go along?" Yumi says irritably.

"Maybe, before we get into all this 'Suspecting' her stuff, we should just try to befriend her first." Odd. The way that he says that..makes me kind of happy.

"We don't have time for that, does the word 'danger' mean anything to you Odd? Or 'deadline'?" Jeremy again.

"Nope, my vocabulary doesn't stretch that far." Odd says and I put a hand over my mouth to refrain from laughing.

"I think that Odd has a point, we shouldn't scare her off. Besides _Franz Hopper_ pointed her information out to us. That has to mean she'll help us right? Anyway I've got to get home. If I stay out late again my dad will be furious." Yumi says and I realize they're coming my way.

They want to be my friends...

I quickly walk away, right into an unsuspecting girl. The same one I described as 'snobby' looking earlier. Turns out it really fits.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." I say hastily.

"Obviously." Is all the girl says before turning to meet me, flipping her hair, and inspecting me up and down. "Wow, ever heard of style? You must have shopped for closed at a garage sale." I blink, not sure I heard her right. She looks like she's pitying me, and trying not laugh at the same time.

"Right, um, thanks? I have to go so sorry again for bumping into to you." I say slightly confused and slightly annoyed.

(Did she just insult my clothes? How cliche.)

"Hold it, I saw you talking to the nerd group earlier, you don't actually plan on becoming friends with them..do you?" She asks incredulously.

"Why should you care?"

"I just don't want another person to be sucked into their world of fantasies. I swear all they do is play their little hero game. Of course it's pretty impressive that they've decided your 'nerdy' enough to join them. Although with your appearance, well it's no surprise." She says and I widen my eyes. Is she trying to say that, becoming friends with them is something I should avoid...because they're nerdy!?

After all this time of convincing myself it isn't worth it to disrupt their lives with my bad luck, she's saying it would be a bad idea because of how they look?!

"Well, if you're reality, then sign me up for the loony bin because I want to be as far away from you as possible!" I say angrily yet smile sweetly at her.

Turning around, I march myself away, pleased at the look on her face I left her with. I stop dead in my tracks, however, because right as I start to pay attention to where I'm going, I see Yumi smiling at me.

"Wow. I heard what you said, thanks for that. Sissy is the type of person who can only get along with herself." Yumi says and I look away. Sissy must be the girls name, why not? "Hey," her voice is much more serious now, "do you really hate the idea of being our friends so badly?"

"No!" I blurt out, loud enough to alert several other people near by. "It's not.. I'm the one that you guys shouldn't want to be friends with. Everybody I get close to gets hurt, that's just how it works out for me." I look at her and widen my eyes in shock at the annoyed look on her face.

"What's so special about you? You don't look like you have any curse on you. Besides my grandfather always says that to get rid of curse you have to beat it."

"But, it's not some kind of curse, it's fact! Nothing good ever happens when I start to feel like I belong somewhere! There's a reason I've run over practically ever person I meet! I'm not meant to fit in!" Great, I've made her mad and am probably just making it worse.

"Sounds to me like a swim in the deep end of the pity pool. Get over yourself! I'll take My chances thank you. Everybody else will too! So suck it up! Will you sit with us at breakfast tomorrow?" I nearly gasp in surprise. She wants...she's still trying to be my friend? Even after I made her mad? I look up at her again and this time she's smiling.

I wipe away tears that don't exist, just to make sure they don't come in the first place. "Yeah...yeah I will."

"Great, I don't live too far from the school, but I still have to go now or I'll be late. The others will be heading to dinner tonight, you should join them then too. Here." She hands me a slip of paper. "That's my phone and email, use it if you ever have to!" Just like that she's gone and leaves me shell shocked, and holding a peice of paper like its my key to living.

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**Not much action in this one, but there's some explaining and backstory stuff. I think I might have gone overboard with the 'I can't have any friends' stuff but hey, it sure as hell was fun to write! Anyway it's really late so I'll wrap this up here! (Very, very tired!) Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 4

_Will you push me?_

_I'm close to falling. My ice underneath is already cracking and the drop is fan. It wouldn't take much to get rid of me._

_The words you speak hit hard, they force me to look down. _

_I don't have a shield, and my sword is dull. Yet I have managed to stand for this long!_

_Will you try and push me down? Good luck._

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**What's up guys? Remeber how last time I complained about it being too late...yeah now it's too early! Ugh, don't mind me I'll just broad on the things I have to do more urgently than this fanfiction until I get motivation to write. In the mean time I'll answer some reviews!**

**To: **Shadowmanipulator7 **Thanks! Im really glad you appreciate it! It takes a lot of work in the afternoons. (And many 'oh shit it's midnight!' moments!) I'll try my hardest to keep swiftly updating this but please understand that during the weekdays my schedule is a heck of a lot busier, so they might not get out as fast as they do on weekends! Anyway thanks again! ㈏3**

**To: **My lovely guest **Hmm, I've debated about which outfits they should wear, but I've honestly never really liked the switch to the season four outfits. Sure they look cool but I always thought they kinda took away from the Cat, Samurai, and Kimono-Ninja-Thing Yumi wore. Maybe I'll create some of my own new outfits one day, but until then I'll stick with the original! Thanks as always!**

**To: **My lovely guest **Nope. If I ever create a new set of outfits for all of the Lyoko warriors I will include a change in her outfit. Although if I'm remembering correctly I think Astrid's original outfit from Code: Astrid's Heart was something like those suits...Hmm. I'll just say a definite no on that. Thank you for asking! **

**To: **My lovely guest **I'll definitly do that! Thank you for responding cause I wasn't sure if anyone would pay attention to it! I really appreciate you taking the time to answer me on that! It might take a few chapters, but I'm kind of excited to do that now! At this point I just want to mainly capture Astrid's view on things. Lots of love!**

**Wow that was a lot huh? Anyway for me it's already late morning (7:30 ish) and I haven't even started the chapter! Better get started huh? Alright, *Hikes up sleeves* I'm on it!**

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Astrid's POV

Before I left to go to dinner I went back to my room, grabbed my laptop, and immediately typed up Yumi's email adress and number. Aelita wasn't in the room, I wouldn't know what to tell her if she asked what I was doing.

Truthfully I'm not very hungry, but since Yumi suggested it I'd feel bad if I don't go. Besides, I've always hated skipping dinner anyway.

Now, after spending some time putting away my stuff, I am walking down to the cafeteria. To be honest I'm not quiet sure what the policy for dinner here is, but it should be the same as lunch right?

"Astrid! I didn't know you were a dorm student!" A voice says from behind me that I just barely recognize. I turn around and see Wlliam grinning at me.

"Um yeah. Are you going to dinner?" I ask but he shakes his head. He's pretty cute, any other girl my age would wonder if he's dating anybody at a time like this. I'm just here wondering how it's funny that our hair could not be more opposite.

"Naw, I actually live near Yumi, but I had some stuff to do for Mr. Bennard."

"The same one with the boxes?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I'm no detective, but it was an empty hallway. Not exactly hard to hear you."

"I was pretty loud huh?" I get the feeling your always that loud.

"Don't you have to go back home? Parents get mad if your late right?" I ask but notice my mistake. Luckily he doesn't and I'm left to cringe on my own.

"Mine don't. But your right. Hey, do you have anyone to sit with at lunch? Since your new and all." I'm about to automatically say no, but I stop myself. Hopefully they won't mind me sitting with them...who knows?

"Yeah..I think I might. Odd, Aelita, Ulrich, and Jeremy. You know them?" I figured he does, since Yumi hangs out with them and he's friends with her..

To my surprise his face darkens a bit, "Yeah, your pretty lucky if they let you sit with them. Normally they're pretty secretive. Anyway I gotta bounce, See you later?"

(What a reputation these guys have.)

Not knowing how to respond when he says his last phrase in the form of a question, I just nod. He smiles and I watch him jog down the hallway. He's pretty interesting.

Once I reach the cafeteria I immediately spot them sitting at the same table. I take a deep breath and grab a minimum dinner and start walking toward the table. What should I do? Walk up and ask to sit with them. My stomach shrivels at the thought.

Will they call over to me? 'Please, why would they?' I think scornfully to myself At this rate I'll walk right past the table and just look like a dork sitting alone again.

However, it's at this moment I notice that there is someone else missing besides Yumi, and that person just happens to jog up behind me.

"Hey! I was wondering if you'd come. Wanna sit with me?" Odd says and we reach the table so fast I hardly have time to wonder why he said 'me' instead of 'us'.

He sits on the opposite side of me, next to Ulrich and Jeremy. I sit down beside Aelita. She smiles brightly up at me and I return a nervous...but happy one.

"Odd, could you have piled _more_ food on your tray? It's my desire to get a stomach ache just by watching you eat that." Ulrich says sarcastically and Odd rolls his eyes.

"Right! Well I'll have you know my stomach is that of steel! Besides you wish that you could eat like me!" While Odd boasts Aelita and I share an amused glance.

"Odd, is that even healthy?" Jeremy asks

"Probably not, but don't talk to me about what's healthy or not." Odd says with a full mouth. "Your the one who stays up all night and doesn't even eat dinner!"

"I'm sorry, I thought you liked the new hover board." Jeremy says and my curiosity rises. Hover board? That sounds downright cool.

"I believe I requested flames for decoration..not another cat play-on" Odd sounds annoyed but you can tell he's joking around.

It's been awhile since I've sat at a table with peers like this. While it's fun to listen to their wacky conversations, I wonder if I'll ever talk like that with them.

I look on the back of my chocolate milk. The joke I suspected I would fine on this brand makes me snort a little. I discreetly show it to Aelita and she has the same reaction. I raise an eyebrow and glance toward the guys goofing off. She smiles mischeivuously and just before I began Ulrich says something.

"Geeze. You two look way too suspicious. You're worse than Yumi!" I raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah, got some real espionage going on. Wanna hear?" I ask and he tilts his chin up like it's a challenge.

(This oughta be good.)

I speak in the deepest voice I can, "What do you call a vampire in the kitchen...? ...Count _spatula_!" While Ulrich puts his head down in defeat Jeremy and Odd crack up. I high five Aelita and the rest of the time goes by cheerily.

When we all finish, I end up looking forward to this year more than I thought possible. We walk back to the dorms together and seperate at the different floor levels. One for the girls, one for the guys. At least, Ulrich, Odd, and I do.

"Hey Aelita, wanna talk for a minute?" Jeremy asks and I go on ahead. Once I reach the dorm room I stand there, my jaw dropping. On the door is a sheet of paper, with sticky notes all around it. Each one has a different hand writing, so you can obviously tell multiple people put it up.

The big sheet of paper has a crude drawing of me and Aelita falling down, or something. On my first day, and already something like this is happening?

Each of them has something like 'Nice Hairdos!' Or 'Go home freaks!'. Hardly the most original things they could've come up with. Suddenly I tear it all from the door and look around. Nothing else is posted around the hallway. When I open the door I quickly check throughout the dorm.

Thankfully, nothing else is there. Relief flows through me and I plop down on the bed. I won't show these to Aelita, it would only upset her. Instead I shove them in my bag, for future use.

Thinking tha Aelita won't be back for long I slip on my pajamas and grab some toiletries. No matter how tired I am I refuse to go to bed without brushing my teeth! Earlier I found the bathroom for the girls in this area and now I swiftly locate it. At first I'm a little nervous but the feeling soon goes away once I see other girls in the bathroom doing the same thing.

I don't say anything but start using one of the sinks and find comfort in the same old minty toothpaste I've always used. Once I'm done I want to leave but find four girls blocking my way out.

(Cue the eyebrow raise!)

"Excuse me, I need to get through." I try to say as casually as I can.

"We can see that," She says matter-of-factly. She takes and step forward and surveys me, "Are _you_ the new transfer student that tried to showed up Sissy? No wonder she pitied you." The obvious head girl says.

"Uhuh, and are _you _the girls that posted those lame notes on my door?" I ask and they smirk.

"Right, the ones about you and that pink troll? Please do _you_ know what's with that hair?" One of them says in a mocking tone.

"Listen, I don't know what you're trying to do but leave Aelita alone. If you need a punching bag I'll volenteer." My knuckles are clenching now. They sure as hell better not speak about Aelita like that again.

"Oh wow, Sissy said you have guts. _Look _new girl. You obviously care about your friend, so we'll make a deal. Don't tell a word to the principal about any of this, and we'll steer clear of you friend. Tell him anything, and she'll never get rid of us!" She demands. I tilt my head back, looking her dead in the eyes.

"Fine. But if you dare even look at Aelita in a negative way- I'll blow whatever fear you have of the principal out of the water. Now, if you'll excuse me I still need to use the door." For whatever reason, this must be what they want, because the girls move out of the way almost victoriously.

(Yay, go me.)

When I get back to the room I find Aelita already there. I'm not afraid of what bullies can do to me, but when it's someone else I can feel the fear easily. She was already bullied, over the room and all that. I don't regret what I just told those girls.

"Hey, I'm pretty tired so I'll turn in right now...unless you need me for something?" I ask ask and she shakes her head. I pull up the cover on my bed and prepare to get in.

"Nope, I was just about to go brush my teeth." She says and I immediately jump from the bed.

"T-that's right. I forgot to use the bathroom, I was wondering what it was. I'll go back with you!" I speak a little too quickly and I'm sure it's obvious in my body language that I'm hiding soemthing, but she just smiles and nods.

While in there I hide out in a stall and listen, incase those girls decide to not keep their promise. In the end we head back to the dorm, thankfully without meeting them. When I finally get to bed and turn the lights off I mutter a quick, 'good night' before falling asleep instantly.

* * *

In the morning I woke up early and got ready with time to spare. Aelita and I ended up going to the library before breakfast, we came out with two new books for each of us. By the time we got to the cafeteria Yumi, Jerey, Odd, and Ulrich were already there.

Once again Odd had his plate piled high with food and this time I got a lot too. For the first time in a very long time, I ate breakfast with my friends. A warm bubble was starting to fill me, and the thought of the girls had been erased from my mind. As well as most of my fears that had kept me from making friends for so long.

The first few classes go by quickly, but by the time we're heading to lunch I reassociate myself with being cautious. When I find the girls sitting at a table with Sissy and a few other girls I catch one of the looking over at me. She smirks and turns away again, leaving me confused.

"Hey, um I have to go back to the classroom, our teacher wants to look at a few things with him. See you!" I lie and swiftly leave the cafeteria.

(Why do I have a sinking feel about this?)

It's easy to spot as soon as you enter the classroom. My bag, that I left in here, is spewed all over my desk and the area around it. A voice from outside the classroom starles me.

"Have fun cleaning that up, freak!" Somebody calls and I curse under my breath. I sigh, guess there's no other option. It doesn't take long to clean it up, but by the time I have people are trickling back into the classroom to grab their own things. An unsettling feeling sets in my stomach, they might've gone through everything in my bag!

"How'd it go?" Odd asks and I shrug. Just as I'm about to leave for band he comes back in to grab his stuff as well.

"I had to leave lunch early to talk to a teacher, not exactly the most enjoyable thing." I say and hope he doesn't question more.

"Hmm, does that mean you enjoy sitting with us?" He asks, taking me by surprise. I look away, probably blushing a bit.

"You could say that." I murmur and he flashes a victorious smile. I can't help but smile back, while also rolling my eyes a bit.

After saying goodbye to him I hurry to band and relish the time I get to spend free. I love playing my trumpet, it helps me take my mind off things.

Band is over soon, and in gym we play some weird game with a bat and a basketball. Don't ask. Finally, I have my first free afternoon at this school. Good thing it doesn't take long for it to be ruined by the 'snob queens'.

(Get it? No? I didn't think so...)

When I just happened to pass by one of them their foot sticks out and I fall to the ground. They laugh like I just caught on fire or something. Of course, this is obviously very amusing, right?

"Wow, I wonder how many people have done that to someone today." I sarcastically mumble. I stand up and brush the dirt off my clothes.

"Look guys, I think it's trying to speak!" The girl who tripped me sneers and they all laugh again. I dramatically roll my eyes and walk away. Maybe one day they'll grow a brain cell.

"Did you like our present? We're pretty proud of our reorganization skills!" One of them calls. I tell myself to keep walking, this can't be fun for them anyway.

"Of course we aren't forgetting Aelita, after all we've done to her, she deserves a present too!" I freeze. This is something I can only learn about from context clues. Whatever they did to Aelita, I wont let it happen again!

"Turns out Sissy was pretty helpful at getting the keys from the janitor. So we thought it was a perfect chance to leave something in your room! Well, in Aelita's bed at least!" Someone says and then they burst out laughing. I grit my teeth, I have to hurry back to the room before Aelita gets there.

Right before I take a step they say one final thing to me, "We heard she likes snakes, so...enjoy!" At that I turn around and can't help myself from looking suprised and terrified. They wouldn't actually put snakes in her bed, would they? I only have a second to decipher the looks they gave me before I'm racing toward the dorms.

How could I have been so foolish! They'll never leave Aelita alone! It'd be better if I just report it. But, will that solve anything? They were pretty confident that doing that wouldn't make a difference to their schemes. Maybe their bluffing?

Finally reaching the dorm, I decide to deal with them later. I slowly walk in the room, it appears as if nothing has been disturbed. Flicking on the light doesn't reveal anything either. What was it they said? They left it..in the bed?

I walk over and reach for the covers. My heart beat pounds in my ear. I'm afraid if revealing the snakes, but I'm determined to keep this from Aelita. If I ask anyone else to help me I know it won't be kept secret long.

"Hey Astrid? Are you in here?" Aelita's voice sends a jolt through me and she catches a glimpse of me grabbing her covers. I immediatly snap away from it, but soon her, Yumi, Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremy fill the dorm.

(She has impeccable timing.)

"You had the door open, that's unsafe you know."

"Right Odd, a dangerous criminal is just gonna waltz into her dorm." Ulrich says, and with that they all start chatting, but I'm staring directly at Aelita. She's gives me a questioning gaze, not accusing, but insistant.

"Is there something wrong with my bed?" She asks and I swallow hard. It takes me a moment to respond.

"Nope, not at all!" I say and the others seem to notice the tension.

"Okay, I'll sit then." She says and I stop her. Why does this have to happen?

"Wait! Actually..." I trail off, not knowing what to say.

Aelita only raises an eyebrow, and Yumi walks up.

"Is there something under the covers?" Aelita asks and I don't say anything. I don't want her to know...but I can't lie to her.

"Here, I'll look." Yumi says. The boys seem to stay quiet, as if they know not to get involved.

I shake my head fiercely, "No, I'll do it."

Yumi simply ignores me and throws up the covers. Underneath is several...plastic snakes. I let out all my breath at once, only then noticing that I had been holding it.

"This again, I thought maybe after a few days of them laying off..." Yumi sighs and looks at me with piercing eyes. "How did you know?"

"They um..they mentioned it to me..."

"You mean, those four girls and their army?" Aelita asks and I look at her apologetically.

"Wait, Aelita what do you mean by 'those four girls.'? Is something going on here?" Jeremy ask and suddenly Aelita and Yumi are looking uncomfortable as well.

"Not really, it's nothing.." Aelita says, but Jeremy isn't convinced.

"Right, we can see that it's nothing. Yumi, you guys are hiding something from us!" Ulrich accuses and Yumi winces.

"Don't be mad at her! She just kept the secret for me! I was the one who asked her too!" Aelita pleads. This is going down hill fast, and it's all my fault.

"Can we skip the 'Whose fault it is' stuff and get on to what happened?" Odd speaks impatiently. Aelita explains breifly that some girls had been picking on her for the last few months.

"You mean bullying you? Come on Aelita, don't try and act like this is nothing!" Jeremy exclaims and I watch with scared eyes as an argument breaks out. This happens a lot with friends right? Confusion spreads over me, and I wish I knew how to settle it.

"Look, it's not like you would've been any help anyway! This is a 'girls' problem!" The atmosphere crackles as Yumi calls out the words they obviously didn't want to hear.

"No, it should've been a problem for friends." Ulrich says solemnly and nobody says anything to that. Horrified, I shift into a 'self hugging' position and try to shrink into myself.

One by one everyone leaves the room except for me and Aelita. I look over at her but she doesn't meet my eyes. Eventually she scoops up the plastic snakes and walks out of the room too.

Confused and alone, I sink to the floor and try my hardest to calm down.

* * *

**My, my. I never thought this would happen! Sorry for the late update guys! I'm trying my best really but I'm busy during weekdays so updates will take longer to write. I write every day, though, and I really hope you all have enjoyed this one! I was debating for a while on whether I should use this chapter to send them to Lyoko, or do something like this. Even though this is a rewrite, it's digressed a lot from the original one. With that in mind I thought I would save Lyoko for the next chapter, where I can really take a good bite of it, instead of only fitting a little of it into this chapter. (But I dunno, they kinda had a big fight. Which, by the way, good job you guys! Leave Aelita, who has just experienced bullying, alone with Astrid who is inexperienced in the art of friendship and is ultimately no help!) *Sigh* they'll never learn. Anyway, I gotta revise! I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

_What awaits me now?_

_With all that I've been through, is there really more to experience? Is everything I've seen and heard a lie? Is it not what really there?_

_Is there something for me to enjoy?_

_Will you show me the world?_

* * *

**Hiya! Let's dive in!**

**To: **ShadowManipulator7 **Thanks! I wish I didn't need sleep so much! I have a friend who gets 2-3 hours of sleep each night...I could never do that. Sorry for the really late update, especially after you complimented me for posting quickly. I won't bore you in my excuses, just know that this story is always being worked on. It never sits dry. I'm very happy that you're enjoying this story! It means a lot!**

**To: **My Lovely Guest **Nope. There's something about her bow that just super fun to write about. I won't lie** **it has nothing to do with her character, (even though I could probably figure out something if I really tried) I simply just love the Bow and Arrow. Her Wrist and Boot** **knives are pretty awesome too, in my opinion. Do you have an idea for a different weapon? I would love to hear it! Thanks again!**

**To: **My Lovely Guest **That is yet another thing that I had not considered yet. In the future of this series she will have a power that is kinda OP, but until then I might have a good idea for a super power thing. Do you have one? ****Thanks so much!**

**To: **My Lovely Guest **Before, she had ice skates. I'll contribute that to something else in the story that will come in soon. I guess I'll call them over skates? XD This is fun to think about! Tell me if you have an idea for**** anything different than skates! Thanks for asking!**

**Getting these reviews always makes me so happy! I apologize for the really late update, but it's here now! XD**

**However I was wondering, anyone that has read Code: Astrids Heart knows that Odd is Astrids main love interest. Throughout that story I kinda hinted at Odd having grow taller and things like that, but I never really...I dunno, confirmed it? Anyway, it's one thing that I really really want to change about any of the characters, so I'm just going to do it. Tell me what you guys think about it, because if a lot of you really don't want that then I won't put that it. But even so it's something that I am really reluctant to let go of. **

**Anyway thanks for reading, I love you all!**

* * *

Astrid's POV

I don't know how long I was planning to stay in that dorm room, but my swim in the deep end was interrupted by a knock on the door. Slowly gathering myself, I rubbed my eyes and straightened my clothes. By the time I got to the door it wasn't too obvious that I had been upset.

"Hello?" I say softly and open the door. Odd stands there with his hands in his pockets. He looks up and me with surprisingly soft eyes. Isn't he angry at me? I just screwed everything up, really it's all my fault.

"Hey, I wanted to make sure you're okay. Yumi and Aelita grouped, Ulrich and Jeremy dI'd too...I wanted to make sure you had a friend." He says and scratches his head. His cheeks are a little red, yet I can feel mine getting red too.

"Really- I mean...thanks...a lot." I say shyly and he gives me a crooked smile. Mischeivuous and comforting at the same time.

"You're not mad though? Everybody is fighting and... it's all my fault." As soon as I say it Odd widens his eyes.

"Are you kidding me? If anyone is the least at fault it's you! You were dragged into it, really. All in all, I'm ready to take down whoever was doing that stuff to Aelita. Honestly, we should be focused on teaching them a lesson." He exclaims and drifts to a frustrated grumble. It's cute. I can hardly keep myself from smiling.

So I decide on telling Odd about what happened between me and them. As the story goes on the look in his eyes get angrier and angrier. By the time I'm done, I have to think, was it really a good idea to tell him all of it.

"So not only did they pick on Aelita, they did the same thing to you!? They are really gonna get it now! Oh, but before that, we have some other stuff to do." He says, suddenly going from a vengeful rage, to excited and mysterious.

"Like what?" I ask, innocently questioning what is coming to me. Odd refuses to say what it is, but takes me by the hand and starts to lead me somewhere. Eventually we are outside and heading into the woods.

"So, this is the way that we go most of the time, through the woods. I'm not sure if it's faster than other paths, but it's they easiest way to go uninterrupted." He states and I hold back my questions. I'm sure I'll understand it more once we get to wherever we're going. I do notice that he said 'we', which must mean him and the others.

Eventually we stop at a manhole cover...in the middle of the forest. I raise an eyebrow at him, something tells me we'll have to go down this.

"Don't worry, it's not as gross down there as you think." Odd says and I let out a small laugh. He picks up the lid and lets me go down first, putting it back down after he descends. At the bottom there's a collection of skateboards and scooters.

"We'll have to get you one eventually. For now just pick one" Odd says and I choose a skateboard. I used to ice skate a lot, but I can also use a skateboard. For a few minutes we're flying down to wherever this leads. The only thing I can tell is, it's been used a lot. All around there are scratches and worn down areas.

At the end of it we climb up another ladder, and in front of us is an abandoned factory. I widen my eyes and let my jaw drop at the site of it.

"Wow, it's so...wow. Wait, didn't Yumi say the supercomputer is in a factory? Does that mean.." I ask. He looks nervous for a second but gains a confident look again. I wonder why he hesitated.

"Yep, spot on." I widen my eyes in amazement. They're actually showing this to me? I mean, it's their secret...and especially after what just happened...

"But Odd...I.." I trailed off. He definitely knows what I'm talking about, and when I look back at his face I'm caught off guard by his smile.

"We were planning on taking you here before all that happened, that's why we all came to your dorm. The others are waiting at the supercomputer. We're going to a place called sector five, and we'll try to figure out why the super computer has your info." He says and suddenly I feel like I'm dazzling. The sun sparks a gleam and everything seems perfect for a second.

"Alright... Let's go then!"

Odd's POV

The way the sun catches my eyes makes Astrid look like she's glowing. The way she speaks, as if she's relieved and elated at the same time. She catches me by surpise when she grabs my hand and pulls toward the factory.

"Come on. What are we waiting for? Show me the way." She say and I'll admit I might be thinking she's pretty cute. I laugh and don't let go of her hand until we get to the cables.

"Just grab on and slide down, it's not as big a fall as you think." I say and she nods. Once I'm down she follows and sticks the landing...kinda.

"Odd...I think stairs would be a great improvement to this factory!" She says laughing. I shrug and she looks around curiously. I grin and punch the elevator button.

"Down we go." I say and she runs up next to me. When we go down I note that there is no music and she notes that we wouldn't be able to hear it over the loud elevator.

When the elevator door opens everybody turns to look at us, I notice her tense up. Jeremy is at his computer as usual, Ulrich is beside him, and Yumi and Aelita are leaning against the wall chatting.

"Wow you guys took a while. I'm dying to see what Astrid's Lyoko avatar is!" Yumi says and greets Astrid warmly. I see her face heat up with embarrassment and she looks away when Yumi walks over to her.

"Something wrong?" She asks but Astrid doesn't look up at her.

"It's...Ealier...I'm really sorry about that. I screwed things up." Astrid says and Yumi puts a hand on her shoulder. She finally looks up at her and Yumi's got that annoyed face on again. The one that means she's more annoyed at the situation then she is at you. It's different from her actually pissed-off at you face...trust me I know.

"Honestly, it's not like it was your fault or anything! Let's save that drama for later, when we confront those awful girls." She says and Aelita smiles.

"Let's get moving...it's not like we have all the time in the world for this." Ulrich says and Yumi whispers something that's loud enough for everyone to hear. So it's not really a whisper.

"Ulrich's still mad, but he's mad at me. Anyway he'll get over it once we set those girls straight." We walk over to the hole in the floor that takes us down to the scanners.

Yumi goes down first, then Aelita, then Astrid, then Ulrich, and finally me.

"Hey Astrid, what we're about to show you is kinda a big deal. If you ever leave this school you can't tell anyone about this. Also when we're in Lyoko stick by us and stay safe. It's dangerous in there. If you want you can back out now." Jeremy calls to us and Astrid thinks for a moment. She looks like she really considers leaving, but in the end she shakes her head.

"I'd like to help you guys in anyway that I can. If doing this helps then I'm not afraid." She says and I notice Ulrich grin a bit.

"Odd, Ulrich, and I will go in first. Then Aelita and you will follow." Yumi says to Astrid and she nods. Almost simultaneously the three of us go into a scanner. I stretch and yawn hugely once we land on Lyoko.

"Coast is clear Jeremy. I guess Astrid doesn't get a welcome party." Ulrich says. We landed on the edge of the ice sector.

"What a shame..." Jeremy says sarcastically. In a few seconds Aelita falls in..and finally Astrid.

She pauses, kneeling on the ground with her eyes closed. Then she slowly stands up and straightens herself out. I hold my breath, she looks...awesome.

Her head is covered by a fuz-lined Eskimo hood. She's wearing an obvious Eskimo dress that falls right about her knees. Her boots, hood, skirts, and Long sleeves- everything has a line of fur or fuz on the seams.

A bow is slung on her back, with a full quiver of arrows. On her wrists are short knives that look effective for a cutting edge punch.

"Wow..Astrid that outfit looks so cool." Yumi says and Astrid looks down at herself.

"Woah what am I? Hey you guys are too! Dressed up I mean. Is this what you meant by 'Lyoko avatar?'. Wow but everything looks so different too! It's like video game graphics!" She asks.

"Calm down there Eskimo. Let's just see if we can get to sector five quickly. Also Astrid-" Ulrich starts saying but Astrid interupts him.

"Be careful right?" I laugh and we start walking towards the edge of the sector. Jeremy does his computer-thing that I still don't fully understand and we go to Sector 5.

I swear, it's never going to get any better. I take a moment to hold my stomach down and ignore Yumi telling Astrid about it in her teasing tone.

"When we go into this is next room, we're most likely going to see some monsters." Ulrich says and I roll my eyes.

"Thank you captain obvious." I say and put a hand on Ulrichs shoulder.

"Hey, I just want to be careful. What if something like William happens again-" I jab Ulrich to get him to be quiet but the damage is done.

"William? What do you mean? I met him the other day, did he come to Lyoko too?" Astrid asks. Despite what's now happening, It's nice to see her like this. She seems more..alive? No, maybe that's not the word, I'll get it later.

"Yeah he did. In fact he's still here. We promise to tell you about it later, but for now we have to hurry!" Yumi says and we reach the room with the switch in it. I immediatly run for the switch which sits on a pillar in the room.

I jump up and over a low wall and use the wall designs as stepping stones. I'm climbing up the wall when I quickly glance over to see Astrid and Aelita staying close, and Astrid aiming her bow at a Creeper. She releases her arrow and hits the monster dead in the Xana eye.

I smile and continue to climb to the switch. Jeremy gives me a time warning and I speed up. Finally I get to the switch and swing my foot so that I kick it in. The timer shuts off and I swiftly descend the pillar. When I get down all of the monsters are defeated and Astrid's grinning.

"That, my friend, is only the beginning." Ulrich says and the five of us walk through to the room's exit.

Astrid's POV

It only took a moment to register what I had to do. However, it took a little longer to actually do it. I pulled out my bow and notched an arrow in it. Aelita was behind me, so I dont hesitate to shoot. Aelita told me to aim for the Eye like symbol- that I now know is Xana's symbol. When my arrows hits the mark the creature explodes.

(Wow. I just exploded a virtual monsters. Talk about cool!)

"Good job, try not to get hit by there lazers." Aelita advised and Odd jumped down from the button. They explain to me what it is and how Odd stopped the timer as we move forward. I'm grinning a little bit, it felt good when I shot the arrow.

"That, my friend, is only the beginning." Ulrich says grinning. He and Yumi share a knowing look and then he quickly looks away, as if he remembers he's supposed to be mad.

We go a little farther and reach a moving elevator-like thing. We all squeeze inside and it takes us to a small platform. A spherical wall of dark blue moving code-stuff encloses us. When I turn to look at what we were in, it also looks round.

Aelita walks to then end of the platform and puts her hand out. A screen of some sorts pops up and she begins shifting through files and digging into the database. I widen my eyes and stare amazed at all in information on the small screen.

"Cool huh? This is where we first found your information. Aelita will find it again...hopefully." Yumi says. Before I can respond I'm distracted by the sound of a door opening up behind us.

"What? This has never happens before." Ulrich says confused and looks at Yumi and Odd.

"Ulrich, why don't you stay here and keep Aelita safe? The three of us will check it out." Yumi says but I'm surprised when she includes me too. She looks at me and Odd, then nods. We run through the new doorway and stop just as we're in to survey the room.

The room is a large corridor, with twenty feet in both directions.

At the other end the room is a boy with a huge sword. A really, really huge sword. I can't help but gasp when I notice who he is...William. Swirling around him is a dark smoke, and beside him are two mantis looking creatures.

"Astrid, that would be William." Yumi says slowly, clipping off her words. Staring at him I widen my eyes and hold my breath. The William I know, isn't the real William. This is him, and he's trapped in here.

(Isn't there some way to save him?)

"Wait, what's that thing behind him? It looks like a floating squid!" I say and Odd shakes his head.

"It's dangerous, we call it the Scyphozoa. Don't let it catch you, or else it'll steal you're memories and posses you...that's what it did to William." Odd says and I narrow my eyes.

"I understand." I say just as William starts running toward us. "Is-" I'm interrupted by one of the mantis things shooting me in the leg. I let out a short gasp from the pain, but it fades quickly. I whip out an arrow and send one toward the creature that hit me.

(I'd tell you it hit it, but then I'd be lying...)

Odd runs forward to meet William and shoots him with one of his 'lazer arrows'. Yumi sends her flying fan of death to one of the monsters leating me to focus on the other one. I send another arrow at it but this time I aim for it's Xana eye.

Just as I send the arrow it shoots me again, this time in my chest. I double over and barely see the monster explode. The pains fades and I stand back up.

William brings his huge sword down on Odd and devirtualized him in one strike. EAriel they explained to me how the whole, life points and defirtualization things works. Yumi, finished with her monster, runs over to fight him but is stopped by several more of the mantis looking things crawling out from behind the Scyphozoa.

William then turns to me. Neither of us moves for a second, but he gives me a cold look. Just before I reach to pull out another arrow he grins. I freeze, the grin sending shivers up my back.

"Astrid." He says and I unfreeze. What's with this guy? It can't be William, it must be Xana. Right? I pull out an arrow and fire it at him, yet he deflects it easily with his huge sword.

(Not fair, it's wider than his face of course it'll protect him..)

All of a sudden everything dissapears. There's a horrible noise that seems to crowd around my head, getting louder and louder. My knees hit the ground and I drop my bow, my hands flying to cover my ears. It hurts, this load roaring that only groes louder. What's going on?

Then, as quick as it came, the horrible sound leaves. My ears ring but I began to regain my bearings. I look around, maybe it was the Scyphozoa? No that things still sitting idle across the room.

"_You don't belong here..._" a voice says while I stand up. I don't belong here? In lyoko? The voice, it sounds familiar, yet distorted. Like an old friend you haven't seen in ten years.

(Believe me I know what that sounds like)

"Astrid are you alright? Aelita got some of the information we need, so everyone is devitalized except for you. I'm going to do that now." Jeremy says and the William guy starts walking toward me. Take a step back but don't get far as my virtual body dissapears.

For a second I'm floating inanimated, and then I open my eyes to see the scanner door open. My legs are shaky but I use the sides to keep my balance. Then I step out and am greeted by Odd, Yumi, Ulrich, and Aelita.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Yumi asks and I nod. She lets out a long breath and I smile.

"Did you guys see what happened? I don't know how but...for a second, it was just noise. Louder than anything I'd heard before..." I say and trail off. What did happen? And that voice..why did it speak to me?

"It's never happened before." Yumi says and Aelita walks over to put a hand on my arm.

"We can all agree that this isn't the first strange thing that's happened lately. We can leave that for later with the other things." Aelita says diplomatically.

"It's pretty late, we need to get back to Kadic soon." Ulrich says uncertainly and we five share a look.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving! Let's get food!" Odd says and starts climbing up the ladder. We laugh and follow him, silently agreeing with Aelita and to discuss whatever had happened tomorrow.

* * *

**Heyo! Look I'm so sorry for this, the late update and all. I've had some trouble lately but it's starting to settle out. I'm also sorry if you think the ending was rushed or too slow, whatever's wrong with it I haven't been able to really focus a lot on the details. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll definitely try to get the next one out asap! Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**:::::::Apologies but this was not checked for spelling mistakes and such, I'll do it once I get the chande! Thanks for understanding!:::::**

_Won't you run away?_

_I'm trapped here, so why do you choose to protect me? You can save_ _yourself and run away! What's the point of being stuck with me?_

_Take sword and shield in hand and cut down your enemies. Wade through the river of misery and despair and persevere to the other side. Rest your head in the field that lies beyond, and stay until you're at peace._

_Yet you don't leave me. You indeed take sword and shield in hand but you protect me. You cut down your enemies, which are all that try to harm us. Nothing can hurt me if its you who's by my side._

_You help me free myself and teach me to fight again. All while protecting me from the harsh world._

_Why? I don't understand..._

* * *

**Hey what's up guys? I'm really excited for this chapter! There's a lot of filler material in Code: Astrid's Heart, and I would really like to move this rewrite along faster than that. Therefore I'm going to include a lot of the old plot together with similiar plot to make a new plot that moves along faster. (It's confusing but you'll see)**

**To: **My Lovely Guest **Thanks! I**** like it too! **

**To: **My Lovely Guest **Thanks! I've considered doing a Yumi and William pairing but I really got into it. So I decided to stick with the Yumi and Ulrich paring! ;)**

**To: **My Lovely Guest **Thanks! I've never really liked pairing Aelita or Jeremy with anybody other than them. Ill definitely work pairings in throughout the FF!**

**To: **ShadowManipulator7 **I'm sorry, I've failed you again. It's another late update. please enjoy though! I look forward to what you'll think of the new plot twist in this one! :)**

**I would like to say thanks to everyone that has stuck throug****h to this point, is it just me or has the last five chapter gone slow? Maybe it's just because in C.A.H. there was already several Xana attacks. Anyway hopefully I'll be able to get it to go a lot quicker, and eventually it'll fall into its own rhythm once we pass the end point in book 2.**

**Well I don't know about you, but I'm getting excited for this next chapter! (I was stuck writing the last one for way too long!) So for now thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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Astrid's POV

"Good morning!" I say and walk past Sissy, who was promptly standing outside of the bathroom when I walked out. She opened her mouth to say something but I dont stop to listen.

The more I thought about Odd, him getting angry at the girls, the happier I got. It's been about a week since we went to lyoko, and after explaining to everyone what happened, we decided careful consideration would serve the issue well.

_"I'll look into it more, but I didn't find any errors in your profile program.." Jeremy says and his brow creases. I stood beside him, next to the supercomputer, biting my thumbnail. He did a sweep of my program once more but nothing showed up._

_"So, it wasn't me?" I ask even though I know the answer. Jeremy and I were the only ones who came today, the others were doing something else. They wouldn't tell me what. _

_"Yeah, it's suddenly gotten much more complicated. Not to mention the fact that most of the information we got from sector five has to be decided. It might take a while before we have any answers." He says and my hands drop to my sides. Part of me feels guilty, I still haven't told him about the voice I heard, despite the fact it's been 25 hours.._

_(What? I keep track of time...)_

_"It's getting late." I finally said with a sigh. "We should probably head back soon." He nods and hops off his big, computery, swivel chair. We step into the elevator and lapse into a silence. A pretty awkward one at that._

I sigh again remembering it. We went back again yesterday but still didn't find anything new. Of course the others still haven't told me what they were/ are up to. Not that I should be bothered by it right?

When I'm back in my room, Aelita is already gone. A note on my pillow says that she's down at breakfast with everyone else. If it's like yesterday, however, they'll be gone by the time I get there. It feels like they're avoiding me..why do I kinda feel hurt?

Shoving the thought away I pull out some jeans and think about better things. Like when we were walking to lunch, the day after lyoko.

_Yumi's POV_

_I yawn and stretch, last night was pretty hectic. However, everyone's in good spirits today, even Astrid. I watch her as she laughs about a joke with Odd and Aelita. She looks happier, but it'll probably take a long time before we fully gain her trust. _

_Even now, as she's smiling, there's something dark and sad hidden behind. What happened to her before she came here? _

_"You're wondering the same thing I am, aren't you?" Ulrich whispers next to me. We're far enough away to not be heard if we whisper. "There's more to her than she lets on."_

_"Uhuh, but it's up to hee to tell us when she's ready." Looks like he's not mad at me anymore, that's a relief._

_"It probably has something to do with why there was info on her in sector five," He says but I shrug. It probably does, but that's way too complicated to worry about now. _

_"Speaking of which, where are we going to set up her-" _

_"We'll look at you! Seems like everything's going well? That's good, everyone was worried about you...there was a rumor you were bitten by a snake." Sissy says out of nowhere. I glare at her, way to ruin a perfectly good afternoon Sissy._

_"Good thing Astrid got there before anything happen Sissy. It wouldn't have taken very long for a bruise to form." I says._

_"oh please, those toys? They wouldn't have actually harmed her." Sissy laughs. _

_"No, I was actually talking about my fist colliding with your face!" My retort rolls off my tongue and Sissy's smile is wiped clean off her face. _

_"R-right! Like you'd actually risk hitting me!" She says but backs__ away._

_"Try me!" _

_"You're likely to get hit by all of us if you ever pull something like that again! Leave Aelota alone!" Ulrich demands and Sissy puts on a sweet smile._

_"Hmm. Well I'd do anything for a date, Ulrich!" She says but the comment is dismissed and ignored by Odd._

_"Astrid too, leave them both alone." Odd says and I quickly turn to look at Astrid with everyone else. She's standing protectively infront of Aelita, but when her name is mentioned she looks down and mutters something I cant hear._

_"Astrid..." I say and she suddenly looks guilty. She should have told me! _

_"Oh..is team perfect not as perfect as they seem?" Sissy says laughing. She turns around and walks away with a swing to her hips. I clench my fist and turn back to Astrid and Aelita. _

_"You two.." I start remembering when Aelita first told me, I was angry at her for not llling me before, but I kept in mind what's important. It's them that's feeling bad about it, so I'll let it go for now. "are such a handful." I finish and hug the both of them. I grab Ulrich and odd and pull them in too, Aelita grabs Jeremy. _

_"Group hug signifies no more keeping things like that secret!" I say and everyone agrees. With that settled we head to lunch and I try not to notice Astrid and Aelita wiping away their stray tears._

Astrid's POV

That was nice, just remembering made me feel happier. Of course the look Yumi gave me was...unnerving to say the least.

Fully dressed with my wet hair in a messy bun, I grab my bag and head down to breakfast. As I thought, the others are already gone. Where they've gone, I have no idea.

I munch on some cereal and read the flier that has been taped to every table. (Subtle, Huh?) Apparently, since winter break is coming soon, a dance is going to be held.

After I finish I walk outside of the cafeteria and sit down on a bench. The same bench I sat on when I was waiting for Odd and the others. Opening up my laptop I shift into a comfortable postion and type away.

(Just to kill time till class starts)

Wait, what's that? I have an email from...someone. I wonder who it is. I open up the email and see a very, very long letter. Not recognizing the email address, I scroll to the bottom to see if they left a signature.

Sure enough, right at the bottom there's a side note, wth a name.

'I know you haven't heard from me in a long time, or maybe it's just a short time for you, but I've really missed you. I hope wherever you are you can find the courage to open up to people again. At least they told me you were having trouble with that. Either way, if you ever want to talk I'm here for you just like always... -Love, Gwen Anderson'

I hold my breath as I read and reread the entire letter. Gwen..she was my best friend. We lived next to each other, we did everything together. The letter is mostly about what she's done during the years. She got married and is pregnant now.

I smile, and try to be as happy for her as I should be. Squeezing my eyes shut stops the flow of tears from coming out. I cover my face with my hands and rest my head on my knees.

When the bell rings for students to get to class, I bolt up. After a few deep breaths I'm wiping my eyes and walking to class. There's no time for that now, I have a life here again. Where has dwelling in the past ever gotten me?

(Nowhere!)

Even as I say it memories start to drift freely and I don't bother tying them up. I should probably reply to her right? Just to let her know that I'm okay, that she doesn't need to worry.

With the memories of her and my friends, Alex's face appears. I shake my head and push that one away. Alex is one I can't deal with.

Yet it doesn't stop. I keep thinking about one thing after another, and then I hit 'disrupting life event #2'. Once again I furiously try to remember more about it, but it's useless.

I take a deep breath, then decide it's not worth the heart ache right now. I mentally tie up the memories just as I walk into class. When I sit down next to Odd he smiles and starts to talk about the science project coming up soon.

I listen and nod absentmindedly, wondering more about what they were doing this morning rather than charting down leaves. Should I feel suspicious? I don't even know the right way to go about this. I want to ask him what they did, but it's none of my business right?

(Even so, I thought we were friends...)

"Astrid! Are you even listening to me?" I jolt up and smack my hand into the bottom of the desk. Ooow! I cradle it in my hand and look at Odd guiltily.

"Yeah, I mean...I'm sorry I've been a little distracted all morning." I say sheepishly but Odd smiles. Then he looks down at my hand and frowns.

"Is your hand okay? You hit it pretty hard." He says and I shrug.

"It's already feeling better!" I say cheerily and then we get shushed. Class is starting.

I put my hand on my chin and try to pay attention during class. Even though I slept well last night, I end up drifting. By the time class is over Odd has shaken me awake at least 10 times.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asks and I smile.

"Being sleepy never killed anyone...well.." I trail off but he cracks a smile, so my awkwardness is worth it.

The rest of the morning passes the same way. At lunch we eat together, but I spend more time looking out the window than participating in the conversation. By the time classes are over, I think Odd is officially worried.

I smile and write it off as not being able to get any sleep but then run into a wall. Smooth, I know, I try.

"Ow ow ow ow...ouch." I say and press a hand to my throbbing forehead.

(There's definitely something wrong with me, I should be more careful..)

"Should we go to the nurse and get you an ice pack?" Ulrich suggest and I turn and laugh.

"No, I'm fine. Sorry for worrying you." I say and they all give me the same look.

"In that case, we wanted to show you something. We have the rest of the day off." Aelita says and loops an arm through mine. The six of us start off, and I wonder where we're going.

"That math test was pretty hard today." Odd says as we're walking and suddenly the conversation stays on that. Jeremy, Aelita, and I thought it was pretty easy, but Ulrich and Odd struggled.

"Yumi, what did you do in class today?" I suddenly. She might feel left out if we're talking about the classes that we have together, and none with her.

"Oh, William nearly knocked over a huge stack of papers on my teacher's desk. It was pretty funny." She says and I almost trip.

"...Clone William?" I ask and she looks over sharply and nods. "When I first met him, he didn't seem like a clone. But I saw him in the halls the other day, and I could easily tell. How do you make it so he seems real?" I ask and Jeremy looks awkward.

"It's a complicated program, but it's neccessary. Otherwise people would obviously notice he's gone. And the consequences of his dissapearence would eventually lead to he super computer being discovered." Jeremy said and rubbed his arm. I nod, I understand why they have to do it, but it just doesn't feel right. I can tell that they feel the same way.

"His friends...they would probably be worried out of their minds too." I say, prepared to drop the subject with that, but Ulrich speaks up.

"His parents too, that's another thing, his father gets pretty worked up everytime he speaks to the clone." Ulrich says as if he's thinking out loud. His parents? Why would his father get upset...he must think it's the same William like everyone else, right?

"He can probably tell.." Aelita says quietly and grows embarrassed when everyone is looking at her attentively. "You know, that the clone isn't his real child."

The mood grows somber after what she says and we walk in silence for a few minutes. I guess I don't quite understand the bond between a parent and child. I haven't seen my father since I woke up. I've talked to him over the phone a few times, but mostly he just sends people to tell me what to do.

"We're here!" Odd says suddenly and I jerk my head up. Staring at the ground, I wasn't looking at what was infront of me. Now I see a picnic table with balloons tied to it, and plates and forks and a box in the center.

"Happy Birthday Astrid!" Everyone says at once and I blink. It's my birthday?

"We probably should have told you, but when we retrieved information from you on Lyoko, it had your birthday on it." Yumi says and I remember the last birthday I had. I bought a small cheesecake slice and ate it by myself in a cafe across the town from the orphanage. I got in major trouble for it after, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Now here I am, surrounded by my new friends. Slowly, very slowly, a smile forms on my lips.

"This is..is this what you've been doing this past week?" I ask.

"You noticed? Guess we weren't subtle enough..." Ulrich says and I laugh. God what an idiot I am!

"Do you like it?" Aelita asks and I nod. Both Jeremy and Odd smile and look relieved, while the others cheer enthusiastically.

"I really really like it. Thank you so much." Tears threaten to overflow, and for the first time since I fell into my coma, they are tears of joy.

Aelita's POV

The relieved look on Astrids face when we told her about setting this up all week was strange. Did she think we were doing something else? Or maybe she felt left out?

Either way I smiled and laughed as we passed out cake and played games. One wass trying to see who can kick their shoe off the furthest, suggested by Odd, pin the tail on the donkey, brought by Jeremy, and charades suggested by Astrid.

In the middle of us reaching the brink of our ability to keep laughing, someone unwelcome entered.

"2 words-" Ulrich was saying while Odd went up to do something.

"Wow, are you honestly playing charades? That's so 80s!" Sissy says and we all turn to look at her. She's standing there looking at us with a scrutinizing expression. Everyone stops laughing and Sissy smirks.

"What are you doing here Sissy?" Yumi asks with a groan.

"I just came by to see what you are doing? Do you have permission to do this? I'm sure you could get in a lot of trouble for this!" Sissy says and jeremy pushes up his glasses.

"Actually we do have permission, although you weren't apart of it." He says and sissy snorts.

"What's this for anyway, a birthday party?"

"Astrids, actually, though I'm not sure you know how to say 'happy' anything." I say and she widens her eyes joyfully. It sends a shiver down my spine that stays there.

"What is it, her 24th or 25th?" Odd snorts and rolls his eyes.

"That joke was lame Sissy.." Odd says

"it wasn't a joke, Odd. I took a look into Astids school files. Apparently she was born 25 years ago on this day. I'm sure you can ask her to explain, although I, not that interested." I look at Astrid, just like everyone else, but she's frozen, her eyes filled with regret and sorrow.

"Sissy. Leave." Odd says threateningly and Sissy laughs.

"Fine, oh by the way Astrid, happy 25th birthday!" She's says and as soon as she's gone everyone is silent, waiting for Astrid to say something.

She looks like she's trying to decide something. Probably whether to explain or not. I will her to let us listen, to tell us what has happened to her! Don't shut us out, please.

"I was born 25 years ago too." I say breaking the silence. I place a hand on my chest and smile. Astrid widens her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"I don't know what happened, or really, why it happened. One year ago I woke up from a ten year long coma, living and breathing exactly the same as had before. Nothing about me had hanged, but everyone else had." She says and ODd walks over to put a hand on her shoulders, I notice that she doesn't shake it off.

"When I went into it I was in a forest, my friend found me a day after it happened. At least that's what they told me." She finishes and looks away, maybe not wanting to face us.

"I knew last week, when we got your information from the super computer. I didn't wat to ask." Jeremy says and I'm surprised. Jeremy has this thing where he asks too far into things. I'm impressed he restrained from it this past week.

"Thank you."

"It doesn't matter to us you know." Ulrich says after another long silence. "I mean who cares if you're fifteen or twenty five? You're still Astrid." She looks around with wide eyes and I suddenly notice how fragile she is. There's still so much she's gone through th to we don't know about. Right now, she has to learn to trust again. It took long enough for her to accept becoming friends with us, if we broke it now it might never come back.

"Everything's pretty much cleaned up, Astrid, Aelita, do you want to take a walk?" Yumi suggest and we both nod. The guys grumble and take the hint, but the heavy attitude is gone. Astrid already looks more comfortable.

For one quick second, I saw Odd lean in and whisper something to Astrid. A smile forms behind mys lip, they seem to be getting close.

Yumi, Astrid, and I head off into the woods, towards Kadic.

Astrids POV

For a while we just walk and don't say anything, but as soon as one painful memory comes, rest aren't far behind. Soon I'm crying, pitifully and hard.

Yumi puts her arm around me and Aelita holds one of my hands. As soon as Kadic comes into view I calm down.

"I only kind of understand, but you have all of your memories, I still can't remember a lot of what happened. Before I was trapped in the super computer, but I can still remember my mother and father, there's prescence at least." Aelita says and I nod. I suppose it is different for her, but it feels nice to think we've gone through something similar.

"All of my friends, everyone I knew, has grown up. After ten years, they m a oved on. Even..." I say and pause. Should I continue? I thought I loved Alex but.. "Let's just say, relationships die after that long."

We continue in silence after that and finally I say, "Hey, I'm going to go the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute." They seemed to realize that I want to go alone, and agree to wait for me in the cafeteria.

(Time passed so quickly, it's already dinner time.)

I splash water over my face and stare at myself in the mirror. Here. Over found my place in then world again, right here. I'm certain of it now. They didn't turn me down or give me strange looks. The words Odd whispered to me reminds me of how much I wish to belong here.

"Don't run away" I say, repeating what he said. My heart flutters and I blush, followed by deep regret. I can't love again, not right now at least...but maybe..?

When I walk out of the bathroom, I turn the corner. Walking slowly and calmly, I Almost dont notice William walking up beside me.

"Hey." He says and I jump.

"hi..look im kinda-" I start to say but he puts his arm around me and walks me off toward the opposite direction. What the hell?

"William, what are you doing!?" I demand and try to shrug him off, but his hand tightens around my shoulder. "William stop!"

He spins me around so we're facing each other and looks at me calmly. I raise my fist threateningly but he grabs my wrist and presse them together, holding them with only one hand. He pushes me against the side of the school and holds my shoulder against it.

Why the hell is he so strong!?

"Astrid!"

"What the hell!?"

"Get away from her!"

Jeremy, Odd, and Ulrich start running towards us. I try to call to them but I'm frozen. Then William does the one thing I didn't expect him to do.

He kisses me.

**Sorry so very much for the delay. Thanks for sticking with me through these late updates. I'm kinda rushed right now so the only thing I'll say is this: Hold on for the ride things are getting bumpy! Thanks for reading and please Review and follow and all that! 3**


	7. Chapter 7

_Who are you really? What are your secrets?_

_You're dangerous, but you hold what I need. If you capture my gaze, will you let it go?_

_You force me to loom upon my past again. Everything about you confuses me, yet helps me understand as well. It's so surreal, I almost feel like I might.._

_fall._

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**Hi everyone! If you read the original version, you might recognize a new name in this chapter. Nope, not gonna give any clues for this chapter. The only thing I'll say is this:**

**It starts.**

**(oh also this, the new character is /nothing/ like the original one. For new readers, this original one was kinda nerdy and wimpy..but no longer ;) )**

**To **My lovely guest **Thanks for reviewing! ;)**

**To **My lovely guest **I will, I hope. ㈴2**

**To **My lovely guest **I'M TRYING SO HERE IT IS! XD **

**Lets get going shall we?**

**(Edit from when I originally wrote that ^: Technically if you think about it the little peices at the beginning of the chapters in italics is kinda hint to what the chapter is about. That or at least what's relatively happening in the current time. It serves another function for me personally but I like it so I just kinda put it in. Do you guys like it?)**

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Astrid's POV

For a few seconds, we stared at each other, his lips dryly upon mine. I realize then that, whoever this is, it's not William. He also has no interest in me at all, he's just doing this to prove some type of point I bet.

My eyebrow twitches in anger, but before I can do anything Ulrich and Odd pull him off of me. Odd steps directly in front of me, fearsome anger is spread across his face.

"You better have a damn good reason for that!" Odd says and I take a deep breath.

The fake William jumps back, and a new, cocky grin is replaced on his previously blank face.

"Great! I thought that might get your attention! Now that that's over, I need to talk to Jeremy." He looks toward Jeremy and grins. "I assuming that's you. You can thank me afterwards, I have some-"

Before he gets to finish I push past Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremy and pull my fist back like a coil, releasing it on the arrogant ass's jaw. I hold my hand with my left and ignore the throbbing. Hopefully his face hurts worse.

He turns his face back to me with a shock, and satisfyingly impressed, expression. I stick out my chin and turn to Jeremy.

"Astrid..." Jeremy says looking shocked. Odd smiles and Ulrich looks like he's trying not to laugh. I smirk a bit.

"If he has something important to say, Yumi and Aelita should hear it too. I'll bring them here?" I ask and Jeremy's shocked expression fades, revealing a smirk equal to mine.

"You're right. We'll be over there." He says pointing to an isolated spot on his right. I nod and stride out confidently, knowing that the throb in my knuckles is still on his face.

When I reach Yumi and Aelita they immediately notice something's changed. They stand up from their seats and meet me near the entrance of the cafeteria. Dinner is just getting started, huh?

"What happened?" Yumi asked and I blush a little bit, embarrassed.

"There's this guy, he looks a lot like William, and he kissed me. I think it was only to get the guys attention, or maybe to prove some type of point. Either way he said he had something important to tell us. I have a hunch it has to do with Xana." I say as we walk back to the boys and Aelita tenses.

"You didn't just, let him get away with it did you?" She asks and I shake my head. I hold up my sore hand and grin.

"Nope, I got him hard in the jaw." I say and the three of us share a laugh. As soon as we turn the corner and see the guys I notice Yumi straighten herself a bit. The boys quickly notice us and I meet Odd's eyes. He grins, but the sadness from before still lingers on my mind. I don't know why, but seeing him smile like that just reminds me of things.

I put on my best fake smile and stay besides Yumi and Aelita when we reach them.

"Woah. I didn't know William had a carbon copy.." Yumi sas staring at the new guy. He sniffs and rubs his jaw, while I flick my hand.

"It's called a twin. My name is Eric by the-" he gets halfway through his second sentence before Yumi, Aelita, and I fully process what he said.

"William has a twin?!" Yumi exclaims and I press two fingers into my temple.

(Of course! A twin! Why not?)

I eye him suspiciously and clench my fist. When he notices he laughs and makes a motion as if he's tipping a hat to me.

"I should probably apologize for earlier right? I'm sorry, I was gravely mistaken." Eric says and I shift uncomfortably. How was he mistaken? At least he apologized..

I look into his eyes and find a mischeivuous, arrogant gleam. He's not sorry at all! I quickly turn my head and fix my gaze on a very curious shadow in the Forest.

Aelita clears her throat to rid the tension. "What was it that you needed to tell us in the first place?" She asks and in her tone it's clear that she's as disgruntled about William having a twin as the rest of us.

"It has to do with my brother, the one the six of you so kindly lost in a computer. Hardly bothering to rescue him from the clutches of an evil master mind!" Eric says annoyed now and a shocked silence falls over the group.

He knows about the super computer? I turn to him to survey him thoroughly now, interested.

"Woah woah woah. How do you know about that?" Ulrich exclaims while the others tensely wait for what he'll say.

Eric looks at us confused for a second, then snorts. "God, you have realized that your super computer isn't the only one, right? There are hundreds in the world!" All of us look at him shocked, except for Jeremy and Aelita, who respond in a very nervous way.

They shift their feet and avoid eye contact with any of us. I look at Yumi and she shrugs. Eric just stands there with a cocky grin on his face.

"Jeremy...have you forgotten to tell us something?" Ulrich asks and Jeremy looks at us guiltily.

"Not exactly. We all knew that there are replicas out there.." Jeremy said and trailed off.

"But?" Yumi and Odd ask at the same time.

"But what he obviously didn't tell you was that there are some replicas that have people using them, to try and help you. There are four major groups right now, however none of us have access to lyoko. Almost every time they've tried to send something or someone to contact this group has failed, Cept for me that is." Eric sums up and we all stare at Jeremy. He nods.

"We didn't know much, we just thought that it would be too much. What with Astrid's issue and all. It just felt like unnecessary pressure." Aelita says when she speaks up. The two of them look equally guilty. I wonder how long they've been hiding this.

"How come you get to decide what we need to know and what we don't? We're all together in this, if you find information you need to share it with everyone!" Ulrich says angrily.

"If we've had people who could've helped us this whole time..." Odd says glaring at the two of them. I turn back to the strange shadow in the forest...has it moved?

"We've been thinking we're the only ones fighting for this!" Yumi says and I turn back, catching Eric's eye in the process. For a split second no ones saying anything. Time seems to slow and I realize it's my turn to express how I feel about it all.

I could do that, voice how angry I about not knowing...but I haven't been apart of this for that long any way. I'm sure there's tons of things I might still not know. So instead I take a deep breath.

"Do you have a way to free William?" I ask. My voice is soft, curious, and peaceful. The sound of my own voice comes as a shock to me. It feels unfamiliar, but a little wiser too.

It's as if the harsh attitude freezes. The hot blazing anger calms for a second. It's been stunned by the completely unnexpected question I asked.

Eric just grins, a soft smile, unlike the arrogant ones from before. "Uh huh." He pulls out a flash drive and tosses it in the air only to catch it again.

"I designed it myself. I've been working on it since William dissapeared. All you have to do is plug it in and activate it when he's there. He'll devirtualize and return as normal." Eric says to me as everyone else is regaining a hostile attitude, stalled only by the suggestion of curiosity.

"We can't just plug it in. There's too big a chance it will mess up the computer." Jeremy says and I look over at him curiously.

"How else do you suggest we break him free? I don't suppose any methods have come to you recently? Face it Jeremy, it's a bigger risk to not even try. Who knows when Xana might decide he doesn't need him any more?" I open my mouth to say something but Yumi beats me to it. I look over at her surprised but pleased.

"How about it?" Eric says and I turn back to him, placing a hand on my hip. He was talking mainly to me and Yumi, less now to Jeremy. I'm sure that stings for him, but nothing we can do now. "If you use this to free him, I'll tell you everything you want to know about my team." He says

"Deal." Odd says automatically, reflecting what we all thought. Even Ulrich looked a bit relieved at the certain way free William. Eric nods and tosses the flashdrive to me. I pocket it, wondering why he chose to give it to me.

In the same second that my hand slips out of my pocket, a beeping noise comes from Jeremy's bag. We all turn to look when he pulls his laptop out and opens it. I'm confused for a second, wondering what it means, but Jeremy answers my unspoken question before I ask.

"Xana attack, a tower's been activated." He states gravely and the mood turns serious and dangerous.

"We have to find it quickly, has anyone seen anything strange?" Aelita asks and almost everyone shakes her head. I think for a second and the turn back to the shadow in the forest. It's moved again...

"Astrid?" Odd says and I glance back before slowly walking towards it. Yumi follows me and just when we get close to it a huge blast of electrical and staticky energy flies out from where it is.

Yumi and I quickly duck down and the others do the same. The grey mass soars over our heads and into the school. Even after its gone I can feel something it's left behind. A strong rush of sadness and the pressure of memories being pushed out from the back of my mind.

"Did anyone else feel that?" I ask and the others nod.

"This should be interesting." Eric says and I see Urlich glare at him.

"Let's just hurry and stop this thing. Who's coming to the factory, and who's staying here?" Ulrich asks and I hear a high pitched sob come from inside.

"Ulrich, you and I will go to Lyoko with Jeremy and Aelita. Astrid, Odd can you two keep things under control?" Yumi suggests and I share a glance with Odd.

"We'll do our best!" Odd says and smiles a bit at me. Yumi nods and the four race off. Leaving me, Odd, and Eric racing to the school.

"You're helping eh?" I hear Odd ask him and he nods at him and winks at me. I wish he would lose the cool guy attitude, it's annoying.

We burst through the school doors just as another sob rings through the building. There's so much noise, people are panicking. Another sob, three different girls. We run faster towards the source.

"The cafeteria! That's where it must be!" I exclaim and Odd nods. We match pace and round corners sharply and evenly. Adrenaline pumps through me, what is Xana doing to my classmates!?

Finally we reach the cafeteria and we stop dead in our tracks, breathing heavily. The gray mass is concentrated in certain spots around then room. Scattered across the room are at least twenty girls out of the entire cafeteria who are either crying silently or sobbing. A over each of them is a bit of gray mass.

"What..what's happening?" I ask confused. All of the girls are sitting on the ground

"I don't know, but it seems like it's only girls. Let's check it out." Odd suggests.

"We might have to get them away from whatever those gray clouds are." Eric says but before he can finish the girls stand up. They start walking, each with a blank expression.

"Where are they going?" I ask and watch as the grey masses moves and starts to dive over and surround other people. At that point most of the students in the cafeteria swarmed out the doors. I shift a foot back and hitch a breath.

Xana symbols flashed in the eyes of those attacked and standing. While new, terrified and anguished sobs are cried out once more. The girls who stood up are now walking towards the three of us.

"Probably to kill us." Odd says and Eric grins.

"Back at the lab, we could've shut something like this off within minutes." Eric says boastfully. One of the girls runs up to us and Odd grabs a chair and swing it at her side, knocking her over.

"Give the others about ten minutes." Odd says and the rest of the girls start to attack. I widen my eyes, what should I do? I know I should obviously fight back but should I use a chair like Odd or maybe fist to fist?

We're out numbered as it is, yet that 'thing' is still attacking the girls. A girl runs to me and I sweep my leg under her feet. Then I run to a serving counter and grab a tray, smacking it against the head of the next girl.

(Looks like my strategy is to just roll with it. That always works out.)

I look to Eric and see a girl coming up behind him while he's fighting another. I send the tray at the girl and grab another. The tray hits the girl and she, like all the rest, is knocked out easily.

"Something feels wrong, they're too easy to defeat." Odd whispers to me when I run next to him. The girls from before stand up with Xana symbols in their eyes and start to come after us.

"You're right. What's the point? It doesn't make sense." I say and watch as the gray mass moves back over the girls who were knocked out. I roll up the sleeves on my shirt and share a look with Odd. We move back to back and call Eric over.

He reaches us and joins us, so that all three of our back face each other. The girls that appeared knocked out before stand up again. All three of us reach and understanding. We'll have to keep them at bay as a team.

Ulrich's POV

"I don't trust that guy." I say as soon as we're in the elevator. I've been thinking it over the whole way here, he's too shifty.

"We don't know anything about him." Yumi said in an agreeing tone. I hold back a slight smirk, happy that she agrees with me.

We walk out into the super computer room and Yumi, Aelita and I start to head down to the scanners. In that moment I realize something. What if Jeremy finds something again? He didn't exactly have a problem with hiding it before.

I grit my teeth. Dammit Jeremy why did you have to go and do that?! As much as I want to trust him, there's this part of me that can't help but be suspicious. A pretty big part actually.

"Maybe one of us should stay up here." Yumi says shifting her feet and I look up at her in surprise. Jeremy, who is already in the chair, turns to look at us. Yumi flashes me a guilty, but helpless look.

Tension spikes in the air, and I debate whether to say something yet. Something like, 'to make sure something doesn't come and attack Jeremy.' But I think we would all know it's a lie.

"Both of you might need to protect Aelita, we can't risk her getting hurt because we had to serperately scan one of you in." Jeremy says. In a logical sense I agree, but I say something to join Yumi.

"Both Yumi and I have been able to safely escort Aelita by ourselves before." I say and more tension spikes. I can feel something hanging in the air. Words on the tip of Jeremy's tongue that he's debating whether to say.

'William could be there, and you don't always defeat him.' In fact it's almost a guarantee that William will be there. He's probably expecting us to be fighting alone.

"We don't have time to argue right now. Odd and Astrid are waiting for us. We don't even know what they're fighting." Aelita said and that broke the tension. She's right, we can't stand here arguing while they're fighting.

"You're right Aelita, Ulrich lets get going." Yumi says and I nod. Aelita and Yumi climb down the ladder, but right before my heads down Jeremy says something.

"I...I won't hide anything else from you." He says and I nod.

"I know. But it doesn't help much now." The three of us get into the scanners and are soon on Lyoko.

"I'm sending in your vehicles, the tower is east of you, you should be able to see it." Jeremy reports and we turn to look at the barely visible tower. We landed in the Forest sector.

Once Jeremy loads our vehicles in we're speeding off towards the tower. A few monsters are there to battle us, but I just slash my sword through them easily. I wonder what this is all about. It feels too easy, not that I'd complain.

"Ulrich! There he is!" Yumi calls to me. I grit my teeth and tighten my jaw. William.

"I'll take him, just get Aelita to the tower!" I call to her and she nods. Knowing our luck, something should go wrong any second now. In fact I'm almost counting on it.

Yumi and Aelita speed past him toward the tower, and I turn my bike sideways and skid to a stop. William smirks and hefts his large sword.

I pull out mine and glare at him as I get off my bike. What will happen if we really do have a way to free him? I guess we'll use it as soon as we finish this.

What will he do when he's free? My thoughts immediately snap to Yumi. I tighten my grip on my sword and block his first attack, jumping away from it so I can run around him. In a second I'm behind his back and I take a swing at it.

William takes the hit, but blocks my second swing. He narrows his eyes, but quickly regains his smirk. He and Eric look very alike. Sucks for them.

"The great Ulrich, playing dirty." He says and I grin.

"I was never planning on playing nice." I say and quickly dodge his next swing.

"I can play dirty too you know" He says and hits me in the leg. I wince and jump back.

"Someone's chatty today." I comment and charge at him, landing a blow on his arm. Afterwards he jumps back, and seems to listen to something. His face is serious and obnoxiously calm. Then a smile splits his face, sending a chill down my back.

He sends a cloud of smoke my way but I run in circles around him, dispersing it. "Ulrich, the towers deactivated. I'm going to do a return to the past." But I barely listen to him. I just stare suspiciously at William.

"What did you do?" I ask demandingly William rests his sword in the ground.

"Ulrich is something wrong?" Yumi calls. She starts running to us, but the return to the past will stop her before she gets here.

"Astrid...isn't affected by returns to the past.." William says. Instantly worry and anxiety explodes inside of me. But before I can say anything a white light envelopes us. We return to the past.

We come back in the moment that we're running to Eric when he kissed Astrid. Jeremy and Odd stop cold but I keep running, because after a moment, both Eric and Astrid fall over.

"Astrid!" I say loudly and catch her before she hits the ground. Eric, unfortunately, fell too fast.

"Ulrich! Odd's knocked out cold!" Jeremy calls to me worriedly. I begin to check Astrid's pulse, but the slight rise and fall of her chest tells me she's still breathing. I look over at Eric, he's fine.

"So are Astrid and Eric!" I call back to him. Jeremy and I share a worried look. What did Xana do to my friends?

* * *

**Hiya! Wow, so I just wrote this long paragraph for my little end of the chapter thing and then my internet died and well, there it goes. Anyway, I apologize for the cliffhanger, but it had to be done. What do you lovelies think of Eric? I can't wait to start some juicy backstories for Eric and William. That is, if the three ever wake up. *eyebrow wiggle* Nah I'm just teasing. Anyway thank you so much for all of your support, I really appreciate it. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it! 3 3**


	8. Chapter 8

_I remember, it's coming back to me. The reason for all of my pain and misery, all here._

_You're here too. Let me show_ you.

_Please help me through this._

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**Hello! I'm super excited for this chapter, how about you?**

**To** My lovely guest **You know it! ;) ❤️❤️ (at least I hope)**

**To **Asha Rajaham* **I'm not quite sure whether you mean Code Lyoko or my previous fanfic, so I'll just- yeah. Code Lyoko is French Animated Television series that (at least this is where I was able to watch it) aired on Cartoon Network. I'm sure you can find it on YouTube and I highly recommend watching it. Although some people get bored with the continuous episode structure that hardly changed, I enjoy it immensely. As for my other fanfiction it's pretty long and isn't very good so I decided to rewrite it in this. Thanks so much for reviewing! ❤️❤️**

**Let's go!**

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Astrid's POV

They were not as easy to knock out as the first time. Turns out after the girls were knocked out, they stood up stronger. This whole thing just got a lot harder.

"What's that thing doing?" I call out, glancing over at the gray mass that continues to swirl around in one area. I don't like this, it's as if it's waiting to wear us down. And then what?

"Astrid watch out!" Odd yells and slams a chair down on the head of a girl behind me. I let out a shocked yelp and jump away from it.

"Stay focused!" Eric says and punches a girl in the stomach, causing her to double over. I glare at him and then look thankfully towards Odd.

"There's too many! We have to hold out until the others deactivate the tower." Odd says and I nod. Eric looks over confused and I mouth 'tell you later' to him. Our conversation time is short lived, because another wave is coming towards us.

(This is so creepy, I'm getting shivers up my back.)

"Isn't there anything we can do to keep them down?" I mumble to myself, trying to think while fending off two girls. These two girls have been knocked out several times, which means they are probably already stronger then me.

The girls shoot their hands out like lightning, grabbing my wrist and pulling me towards them. "Gah! Let me go!" I yell and pull back. In a second I notice Odd is by my side, and Eric by my other.

"Hold on!" Odd says and grabs my arm. Eric does the same and grabs my other. The two girls smile and they send a blast of electricity through me, which flows into Odd and Eric as well.

We're surrounded. The rest of the girls have formed a circle around us, there's no way we'll get out of this!

"Dammit!" Eric says after the electricity stops. In that moment feel a crisp, condensed like energy pooling in my chest. I am pissed.

(Too much shit has happened in the past twenty four hours! I am this close to loosing my cool completely!)

"What the hell is the point of this!?" I scream and push up on the boys shoulders and kick back the girls in front of us. They fall on their backs and I swivel my head to the grey mass of electricity. However, I am taken aback when I see its concentrating into the silhouette of a man.

This man, despite it not being necessary, walks over to us while electricity pools out from the places his foot hits the ground like ripples in still water. If the grey stuff has been flying all over the place, why does he have to walk? Odd tightens his trip on my arm and I glance to him.

"Has this ever happened before?" I whisper and he looks at me before loosing his grip, and we both look back to the man walking towards us.

"Not really..." He murmurs and I sigh. No easy way to figure anything out, huh? His left hand shifts and I notice he pulls something out of his pocket.

"These girls are weak, their emotional systems are not nearly as strong as ours." The voice comes from the man, even though no mouth moves. I narrow my eyes, who does he mean by 'ours'? And where...this voice...where have I heard it before?

"Let them go. Whatever you're doing, they have nothing to do with this." Eric says boldly and I cut my eyes to him. The spite and anger I had moments ago is gone, replaced by uneasy curiosity. I'm gently opening a door, hoping I don't already know what's on the other side.

"Mere puppets. I simply showed them my own past, it shocked them so much- it's child's play to control them." The man says and stops in front of us. After letting what he's said sink in, he addresses us himself. "I am planning on showing you something different, though. Will you be strong enough to take it." I lift my chin and confidently take my turn to speak.

"We can take anything. You won't use us for toys." I say and even though I can't see any change on the silhouette of the man, I sense amusement.

"Right on time, your allies are deactivating the energy source. We have no time to speak anymore. Have fun." He raises and hand and the grey mass that formed his figure surrounds the three of us.

Moments later the three of us wordlessly, with hands clamped together, start slipping into dreams. Around me the world shifts and backtracks. I'm closing my eyes when I feel soft lips on mine. I collapse to the ground, but I would almost swear I heard someone call my name first.

* * *

I moan and try to wipe the grogginess from my mind. I sit up and wonder where I am. There's something strange about this place, the floor and the walls are all made of metal. A light grey that might be mistaken for white in a certain light.

"Hey, the people here can't see us." A familiar voice makes me jump, and I turn to quickly to see Odd offering me a hand. A small smile forms on my lips when I see him, along with a warm feeling filling me. It's..hard to describe but knowing he's safe fills me with a relaxing, happy, and sweet kind of feeling.

I turn my focus to our surroundings once more. Lots of old computers fill this room, along with two adults. One woman and one man. The woman has beautiful blonde hair pulled back in a low ponytail, with strands of hair falling over her face. The man has spiky black hair, and a concerned yet tempted expression on his face.

Odd and I stand next to the wall, well in view of these two. However, like Odd said, they can't seem to see us. A spurt of movement catches my attention and I see Eric walking towards us.

I nod and he gives me his usual grin. I roll my eyes and listen to what the woman starts to say.

"Okay, here's the deal. Should we be able to implant this in a human, it would create a massive energy source. They alone could power an entire city. Of course, that's not allr. A person with this condition could become a super soldier. The things they could do on a battle field would almost assure a victory in any battle. More so, as an assassin or a hacker. The possibilities are endless." The woman says passionately, and a cold familiar sense of dread starts to set in.

"I know this place." I whisper and try to remember where I've been that's like this room.

"Astrid?" Odd asks and I shake my head, waiting for the man's response.

"This is insanity." Eric comments and I nod in agreement. They want to make a person their weapon? Its inhumane.

"What happens when this specific person goes crazy with power? What happens if they decide to use this power against humanity?" The man says and the woman adjust her glasses.

"From the start, we'll have complete control. With the technology we have here, they won't even suffer. They won't know they're being controlled." She says confidently. I gasp and put a hand over my mouth. Controlling someone just for your own benefits like this. What are we being shown? Is Xana trying to tell us something?

"How many possible candidates do we have for this?" The man asks. He's actually agreeing to this?

"Two. The first one has been working with us for quiet some time and had good potential at the start, but he might just know too much." She says and then gains a scary look in her eyes. Her mouth forms a proud grin and I shift closed to Odd, afraid of what she'll say next. "His sister, now, is perfect. Her brother has too big of a chance of a misfire. Should he fail in the implantation, we'll immediately move to his sister."

"When does the brother's test take place?" The man asks and a scream rings throught he room, echoing from somewhere else in the building.

"Now, actually." The woman says simply and in that moment frantic knocking erupt of the door.

"Excuse me!? Was that Danny!?" The sound of the voice makes me widen my eyes. It sounds...it sounds like...

"Here she is." The woman opens the door and in flies a worried and panicked looking girl. It's..

"Is everyone alright?" The girl asks. Her brown hair is tied into two simple pigtails that fall down her back. Her eyes are as dark of brown as her hair, and her makeup is done beautifully. Even though I've never seen her like this before, I know this girl.

This girl is..

"Astrid.." Odd murmurs staring at the girl, glancing between me and her while comparing us.

"Hello Astrid, good afternoon. That was just Mr. Parker getting shocked by a computer the was fixing." She lies easily and smoothly, while Astrid lets out a breath of relief.

"It's me." I say mesmerized by the scene in front of me.

"I'm so relieved. Oh by the way, I brought some sweets from The Muse." Astrid says and holds out a box. The woman takes it graciously and is interrupted from speaking when a man cones through another door.

"It failed, he's gone. If we're going to succeed we need her right now." I whispered the words, the events of this memory reappearing in my mind moments before things happen. Sure enough, the man urgently states the words to the woman.

"Prepare it, we'll bring her in thirty seconds. Send muscle." The man runs away and Astrid looks confused. I remember it. I remember this confusion.

"What's happening?" Odd asks seconds before Astrid does. He's confused. I look to him helplessly and desperate.

"It's me, it's why.." I trail off and swallow hard, watching as the woman grabs Astrid's wrist. She slips out a pair of handcuffs from a nearby drawer and clamps them onto the struggling Astrid.

"Hey stop that! Why are you doing this, let me go!" Astrid screams and the guards grab her and wrestle her through the doorway. After a few moments of hesitation I follow through and watch the scene that changed my life fold out in a whole new perspective.

"Astrid! Is this..did this happen to you?" Eric asks and I turn back to him as the chaos of the situation carries out around us. They forced me into the lab, the second testing chamber where they were simply waiting for me when I came through the door. Why is it all coming back now? Why didn't I remember this before? Dazed I wobble on my feet for a second before Odd reaches out and steadies me.

"I was going to my brother's, and sometimes my, job. I bought sweets from the local bakery, The Muse..I think. Everything after that I didn't remember. I simply woke up in the rumble, with these eyes and this hair. I never.. I didn't remember ever having brown hair..I think-" I rattle off, clutching onto Odd's arm, until I stop and listen to whats happening. I- no the old me is banging on the testing room door. They've locked her in, staring at her from the other side of the glass.

"What are they doing to you?" Odd whispers and I shake my head.

"Get ready, I'm flipping the switch to begin the fusion in 5...4..." The person at the control panel says.

"I don't know.." I whisper back. Stop...stop please...leave her alone!

"2...1.."

"STOP!" I scream

"Astrid!?" Odd yells

"Hey!" Eric calls

"Now!" The man flips the switch.

"_aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!_" Both of my screams run together.

* * *

Ulrich's POV

I paced around the infirmary, ignoring the annoyed looks that came every time I switch directions. Odd, Astrid, and Eric are all lying down in an infirmary bed. We don't know what happened to them, even though the nurse said they must have just fainted, what William said makes me think otherwise. That asshole. If anything happened to my friends, I will personally take down Xana.

"Ulrich! Could you please _stop_ pacing like there's no tomorrow? It's not helping any." Yumi snaps irritably and I snap my head back to her, feeling a bubble of frustration and anger rise up.

"I know it's not-" I start to say but Aelita stands up and holds a hand out.

"Fighting right now isn't going to solve anything. Hopefully will get something from Jeremy in a few minutes, but for now we can all take a chill mill." Aelita says and then sits down again. I walk over to the two and sit down in the second to last remaining chair. Yumi lets out a breath that fluff's her bangs up. They float down slowly, and after they still I find myself staring at her face. She meets my eyes and we both turn away suddenly.

"It's a chill _pill_ ya know." Yumi says and Aelita rolls her eyes.

For a while we sit there, watching our friends, and Eric, for any signs of movement. Just the slightest twitch. Aside from the rise an fall of their chest, they hardly move an inch. Suddenly the seat next to me, the one closet to the door, is filled with a plop.

"Any news?" Jeremy asks and I shake my head. Jeremy frowns and narrows his eyes. What's he thinking about?

"Don't blame yourself Jeremy, it's not your fault." Aelita says and Jeremy looks surprised for a second, then he smiles.

"Thanks." How did Aelita know what he was thinking? Girls..

"nnn.." A sudden sound from our friends makes us all snap our heads towards them. Yumi stands up and is quickly beside Astrid who has a pained expression on her face. Jeremy and I hang back while Yumi and Aelita try to call to her.

Argh! I'm feeling guilty, just like Jeremy I feel it's partially my fault this happened to them. "Did we do this to her?" I ask Jeremy quietly and he turns with an expression of understanding despite my out of the blue question. He thinks for a second and shrugs.

"There are many things going on with her that we don't know about. Why is she in the super computer first of all, has she been in there this entire time? Also, her white hair and eyes. I suppose that could be natural but... I get a strange feeling from it. Like it signifies something." Yumi says and I share a look with her.

"If we hadn't asked her to help us understand why she was in there...would she still be like this? Or Odd?" I ask but before anyone can answer Astrid's eyes snap open along with an ear splitting scream. Odd and Eric sit up suddenly while she's still screaming. Odd makes eye contact with me for a second before turning to Astrid. Her scream dies down but she doesn't wake up.

"Odd! Are you okay!?" Jeremy asks and Odd nods.

"You too?" Aelita asks Eric.

"I'm fine, is Astrid?" He asks and we all crowd around her bed. Unlike Odd and Eric, she wakes up slowly opening her eyes and blinking to let the light in. What happened to all of them? They look pretty shaken. I clench my fist, dying to know and struggling to keep my patience.

"Astrid? What happened?" Yumi asks what I'm thinking. Astrid sits up slowly and stares blankly down at her bed for a second, everyone waiting on what'll she say. After a moment of hesitation, she stretches and yawns.

"What's everyone so worried about? Are we in the infirmary- AH that thing did it, didn't it!? It's a good thing we only fell unconscious.." She says obviously looking relieved. I smile, happy that they were all okay. It's a relief to know they were just unconscious. "Odd, Eric. Are you two okay?" She asks without meeting their eyes. the two boys don't say anything, and I share a look with Jeremy. Astrid looks up at Odd and then he smiles and nods.

"We're both fine. It must have been because you were electrocuted, when we passed out, that you screamed." He says and I glance back at the bandages the nurse put on her arms. the burns weren't severe, but if it was from Xana it musta hurt.

"You sure you're okay?" Yumi asks. She's always worrying so much about everyone, it amazing how caring she can be.

"Yeah, what time is it?" Astrid asks and slips out of the bed. Before anyone answers she turns to Eric. "Oh, I almost forgot, do you still have that program to free William?" She asks and he checks his pockets.

"Where'd it go?!" He says surprised but Astrid pulls it out from her own pocket, with a perplexed look on her face.

Hold on, first she didn't forget her first time through the return to past. If she also got burned before the return to the past, she should've be healed. Now she still has the flash drive, is she not affected by it at all?

"You gave it to me before the Xana attack..." She says and looks around and stops her gaze on Jeremy. "The fact that I have so many glitches with the return to the past...do you think it means anything?" She asks worried. A small crack in her voice reveals a tension behind her words. Jeremy must have noticed too because he just shrugs.

"I don't know, we'll have to find out as we go along.." He says and Aelita smiles at him. I guess he said the right answer cause Astrid does too.

"You can keep it. By the way it's 7:30." Eric says looking down at him watch. He's been pretty quiet this whole time, I narrow my eyes a bit but feel a slight tap from Yumi's boot. She gives me a look and I roll my eyes.

"Dinner should be going on right now, we should eat up if we're gonna free William tonight." Yumi says and looks around at everyone. Everybody nods in agreement and the mood seems to lighten a bit. Eric visibly relaxes and Jeremy starts examining the flash drive with the program.

"Actually, I'm not very hungry, so I'm going to drop by the dorms so I can put on some tennis shoes." Astrid says and as soon as we leave the infirmary she veers left and ran off to the dormitories.

"Is she really okay?..." Yumi says and Odd shrugs.

"I'll go with her, just so she won't be alone." Odd says and runs after her. I look at Jeremy and we share a shrug.

"Hey Yumi, do you think...?" Aleita asked with a raised eyebrow. Yumi shrugs and smiles.

"Who knows? He's never missed dinner for a girl before though.."

* * *

Astrid's POV

Oh my god. Oh my god. I clutch my arms as I race back to my dorm, but lean against the wall, out of energy before I get there. I huff and puff for breath, trying to contain all the emotions I'm feeling. Why? Why couldn't I have been normal? I put my back to the wall and slide down. She said...if the experiment was a success, they would use me as a weapon. Why haven't they yet? Is it cause I destroyed the lab? It serves them right.

"Astrid..about what happened.." Odd's voice jolts me out of my misery. I look up as he slides next to me. I sniff and wipe my eyes, I wasn't crying yet, but it feels like I was. "What they said, they were all monsters. Even if they changed how you look, they can't change who you are. You've proven that." He says and nod.

"They ruined my life. I'm a computer! A program! They must be why I'm in the super computer! Not to mention how I look! I don't even remember having brown hair, or brown eyes! None of my old friends did either, how does that even work out!? It's so friggin' messed up!" I say, probably too loudly, and then stare at a lock of my hair I hold in my hand.

"Before the specter starting speaking, i started recording on my phone. I have word to word what he said, if you ever need it." He says slyly and I nod. What he said...what Xana said? "And if it makes a difference, I love your hair." He says. My face flushes red and I look over to him, noticing that he's blushing a bit too. 'Love'? Despite all the turmoil I feel inside, his words make me a bit happier.

"It does, thank you." I said smiling. When he smiles back a part of me tries to pull my feelings back, but its pretty useless by now. "I promise you, I won't ever let them do as they please with me. I won't...I can't let them use me to harm people... if they ever do..." I trail off and clench my hand. I've got a life to live now, and they can't have it.

"I believe you. Even if they do get control of you, it wouldn't be your fault. For now, I'll help protect you from them." He says and I widen my eyes.

"That's a big promise..." I say, is he really saying this? Me? A potential monster?

"Do I look like I break promises?" He asks and I shake my, smiling as tears really start to drip down my face. For a second neither of us say anything, but then he puts an arm around me and I rest my head on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Odd." After a while we get up and return to the others, after I grabbed my tennis shoes.

No, I won't let this top me from living my own life. Whatever they have planned for me, they'll just have to be disappointed. I want to find out more about what I looked like before their experiment, and I know the person to ask to help me with that. For now though..

Odd and I run up to the others, and I watch as Jeremy holds up the flash drive and says, "Is everyone ready?

We've got a friend to save after all."

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**How's it going? Yeah this particular chapter...it took a while. Course I've still gotta edit it and all. Anyway, were you shocked? All of you who didn't read the original?** **Astrid x Odd this chapter too, I love doing that. Oh btw the next chapter where be the one William gets saved, hopefully coming up soon we'll have some good twin drama. Anywho, it's late so bye bye! Thanks for all the support!3**


	9. Chapter 9

_I have been hurt, but I must keep moving. I have a job to do, and nothing will keep me from doing it._

_My friends by my side will help me through this mess, they'll protect when I'm injured._

_And I shall do the same for them._

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**Hi there! I'm super sorry about taking a long time on this one, they seem to be taking longer and longer huh? It's been pretty busy lately, and the main computer I used to write these went to my sister, so I had to get used to doing these on my phone. Yeah I know excuses excuses but hey! It's finally here right? Anyway I hope you enjoy this new chapter! **

**To **My lovely guest **Thanks again for all your support!**

**To **Ayami55 **Thanks! That means a lot! I've got a lot of ideas for this story, but I'm always open to suggestion if you have ideas! **

**Shall we get started?**

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Yumi's POV

We met Odd and Astrid again after dinner and walked to the factory as a group. Earlier I called my parents and told them I going to be studying with Aelita and Astrid until later tonight. Should I come back too late, I already plan to tell them we accidentally fell asleep when we finished studying. Originally, lying to my parents created a knot in my stomach that was hard to get rid of. The feeling comes even now, but I've gotten used to it.

It's my duty to help my friends, and we've all been assigned by fate (or something) to protect the world from Xana. Now that Eric has appeared talking about other organizations, I'm beginning to wonder how many others out there share the same fate? How many people are secretly living these lives? What would mine be like without all this?

"Wait so, How'd you manage to get his clone to be.. well like it was?" Astrids asks, she looks a little distracted, it must have been that something happened while they were out, but she's staying strong. I admire her for staying focused but, she always bottles up her feelings. I know, because I used to do it a lot too, when I was younger- it never feels good to hold it in like that... Imagining that it doesn't matter anyway if you tell about it keep it to yourself, nobody cares.

"Actually, just before you came, I was able to transfer the characteristics of his consciousness over to the clone. It made the clone considerably less of a handleful to maintain..." Jeremy says with a speck of pride, along with fatigue.

He works very hard, and is usually very humble. Despite the mistakes that he's made, he does everything for us. Even though I'm angry, he deserves our forgiveness. Aelita and I have discussed how we both thinks he does everything he can so Ulrich, Odd, and I can lead as normal lives as possible. He hates having people involved in this, because he hates the burden that it puts on everyone..

"OH, so that's what you were doing when Ulrich and I had to literally drag you back to your bed. He was half conscious that morning, ya know." Odd says and we all laugh, except for Eric who taps his foot impatiently.

What _would_ my life be like without all of this? Without having to spontaneously mid class and make up work constantly during free time, without getting worried every time one of my friends goes into lyoko? Would it be better? What would it be like to not have lyoko?

Heh, boring I guess. I wouldn't have ever met Aelita, and she might still be trapped in the super computer. She's the reason we all do this, and I guess I'm kinda grateful for it. Even if I sometimes wish for a normal life...I've been handed and opportunity to show what I can do, in my own way. Not the way that my mom or dad would have me do. I also like to think that I've become a better person beside everyone here.

"Alright, before you guys go to Lyoko, we need to figure out how to lure William out." Jeremy says, but before anybody suggests anything, Astrid speaks up.

"What about Eric? Will he go to Lyoko with us?" Astrid asks and for a moment we all look around, curious if anyone will give a definite yes or no. If he's only going to be helping out for this little bit...

"I don't really need to, see it's not like it'll make much of a difference. Didn't anyone notice that I never forgot from the return to the past?" He asks and I gape for a second before regaining my composure.

"But...you've never been registered in the super computer before.." Aelita says shocked but Eric just gives us a sly grin.

"Correction, not _your_ supercomputer." Eric says and Jeremy puts two finger on his temple and Odd snorts like he's not even surprised.

"That doesn't mean you should be now. We'll save William just fine with the program you already gave us, no need to go above and beyond your call of duty." Ulrich says and I roll my eyes. Eric clenches his fist but before any more words can be said I step in.

"Let's all stay on the same side here okay? The sooner we get this done the better, Eric we don't have enough time to teach another person how to survive on Lyoko. Now we have more important things to figure out, right?" Both of them step back and thankfully a fight is avoided. Geeze though, you'd think Ulrich just likes to get into fights. I look over to see Astrid and Odd whispering, what conversation could they be having?

"It wouldn't be a good idea for Aelita to come either, if something went wrong..." Astrid points out, breaking away from her and Odd's conversation, and Aelita puffs out her cheeks indignantly. She looks like she wants to argue about it, but she probably knows its for the best. "Either way, with both Jeremy _and _Aelita working with the program, things should go smoothly on that side." Astrid adds and Aelita thinks for a second, then smiles, appeased.

"We could go to sector five and act like we're planning on gathering information." Odd suggests and I think about it for a second.

"Even though Aelita wouldn't be with us, we could all take a go at sorting through the files. Hey maybe one of us will even be good at it." I say and the others nod. It'll be useful if we have more than one person able to gather data efficiently

"We should hurry then." Ulrich says and with that Jeremy and Aelita, dragging Eric along with them, settle at the super computer. Astrid, Ulrich, Odd and I head down for the scanners. The three of them go in first while I wait. After they're in I follow, and soon we're all in the Ice sector, right near the edge too.

"Good aim Jeremy." I comment and we all stand on the edge of the sector waiting for our ride. Jeremy does his thing and the spear comes to get us. Time passes and a room with a switch later we're heading down the sector five elevator.

"Who tries first?" Jeremy asks and I shrug. I walk over to the place Aelita normally brings up the translucent screen, but nothing comes.

"How do I do this? Nothing is appearing..." I say and back up. Ulrich tries, then Odd, but neither has any affect.

"I thought it would be simple for you guys to use it, its always just appeared for me. Do you think Xana has figured out a way to lock it?" Aelita says through the mic and I look to Astrid.

"Either way there's still no sign of William." Erics voice comes through as well and I look around, its true. Maybe Xana really doesn't want to lose him.

"You're the last one, go for it."Ulrich says patting Astrid once on the shoulder. She walks up to the edge and raises her hand. The translucent screen appears and Odd, Ulrich, and I share a look. Why would it only come up for her? It has seemed that Xana has been interested in her too lately. We still don't know what happened to them... I have the feeling it was more than just being knocked out.

"I guess...it's unlocked?" Astrid says, looking a little overwhelmed. After fiddling with the screen a bit things start popping up. The rest of us are silent as she searches through Lyoko's database.

"A-any signs of William yet?" Odd says, obviously trying to cover up his shock. Jeremy says something, but it's not an answer.

"Astrid, what is this stuff you're sending me? How did you access this stuff through the super computer?" He asks but Astrid doesn't respond. I walk over to her, and place a hand on her shoulder. She jolts and turns to me surprised.

"Oh...I'm sorry I just.. I got lost in thought." She trails off and I look at the quickly fading screen. An article is on it, but the only thing i can read before it fades is the name 'Sam Jones'.

"It's alright, maybe we should save looking through the data base for another time." I say soothingly and she nods. It's curious, all the stuff that happens around her, it sure is a mystery.

"U-huh.. We got a job to do" Ulrich murmurs grudgingly and I turn to see him looking down. Before anyone can say anything else, three mantas fly up in a rush from beneath us. On top of the last one is... William. My heart thumps seeing him, and it flutters around happily thinking about freeing him. Not that I have feelings for him or anything, it's just that it'll be... a burden released. Worrying about him all the time is giving me gray hair.

"Jeremy?" Astrid calls and Jeremy responds by producing our vehicles. Astrid hops on with me while Ulrich and Odd get on the board. Now that's a sight to see.

"When will you send the program?" I ask as we set off to chase William.

"As soon as I can, Eric /why/ is this thing encrypted!?" Jeremy says irritated and I sigh, oh geeze. A muffled response from Eric comes that I can't hear, but I do hear Astrid mutter something about "unneeded complications". That makes me smile and I turn to William again. At this point I wonder if Xana knows we have the program or not.

"Astrid, Yumi- can one of you take out the mantas? We're a little busy /not/ falling off!" Ulrich says and I look over and try not to laugh. What were they thinking? The two of them on one board are trying to stay upright while moving fast and dodging manta shots.

Astrid takes a few manta out to lighten their struggle but I shout over to them, "One of you get off! If you fall off now it won't be good!" I say glancing down at the immediate death below us. Ulrich nods nods and dives onto the next platform. He lands safely, but Xana seems to think it's a good idea to ditch the chase too. William and his last manta fly into sector five's structure and I groan.

"Difficult fellow isn't he?" Odd says and flies after him, followed by Astrid and I.

"Jeremy? Any day now?" I say and see us enter a big room. William jumps off his manta and pulls out his huge sword. Astrid jumps off and meets Odd on the ground.

"I'm almost there. Ulrich go left and then straight to meet them." Jeremy says and suddenly a swarm of monsters drop down around us. I fly around to William and then jump off, trapping him in the room.

"It's time to come home now." I say and and take a step towards William. A monster shoots at my shoulder and I have to quickly dodge. Pulling out my fans I focus on two incoming tarantulas and send my weapons in opposite directions.

"Yumi you're the one that has to use the program when it comes. The rest of us will deal with Xana's pets!" Odd says and Ulrich runs in beside me as I catch my fans and the monsters explode.

"I'll watch your back." Ulrich mumbles and I smile. I know it's hard for him because it's William that he's saving, but he's helping out for me. I sheath my fans and meet Williams Xanafied eyes.

"I'm sending it in now!" Jeremy says and in front of me forms a small light ball. I reach out and cup it with my hand suddenly my hand starts flowing and it absorbs the program- light flowing out of its palm.

At that point I take a step towards William but he slashes the air in front of me with his huge sword. I jump back to avoid and hear Jeremy say,

"Yumi, don't touch anything with you're right hand. If you do the program will fail!" Jeremy says and I nod. Okay so- left hand?

I turn to see Ulrich fighting three monsters at once, and come to the resolution that I'll have to do this by myself.

Using my left hand I pull out a fan and whip it open. How can I do this? My one fan against that huge sword? William grins evilly and I decide- I'm fed up with that grin. He's coming back with us today!

For a few seconds we move with each other, following each others steps. Then he jumps at me and slashes powerfully with his sword. I jump back and hold up my fan to block anything that a might reach me. All I need to do is touch him with my right hand, this should be a piece of cake.

While his sword is in the ground I run towards him. He suddenly lifts up his sword and I dive to the right, clenching my right hand and rolling on my left arm when I sit up from my roll an immediate sharp pain follows from my left arm. Gee, isn't that peachy.

"William please work with me, this is good. We're going to free you from Xana." I say and look around at my friends, I'm not sure, but I think there are more of Xana's monsters there then before. I hear a grunt from William and snap my head back quickly, he has a hand on his head with a pained expression on his face.

William blinks and for a second I think I see the old him. But how? Is Xana trying to tease us? Tease me? In that second I run up to him and almost instantly when he spots me, he begins running again. I follow after him and eventually he passes through a doorway, in my mind I know it's unsafe to follow blindly- but you know caution and the wind are friends so why not let them be throw at each other?

When we go through I skid to a stop and see William, a few feet in front of me, do the same. He turns around and stands at the edge of a one and half foot thick and three yards lengths beam. Below us I see nothing but sector five's version of the digital sea, and behind me the door has closed.

"William, it's okay, just let me take you back." I say and reach out my right hand a bit. Even though Ulrich got annoyed at him and he made some mistakes, I've really missed William. He was a good friend to me and we were unfair to him by keeping this secret. All he wanted was to be part of the group and this happened. "Please William, I want you back! Not some clone that isn't you, no matter how much of you we put in there it isn't you!" I say and take a few more steps.

"I want you to come home again." I say never breaking eye contact with him. He doesn't seem to react- he's still, he's not moving an inch. The next step I take however is misplaced, and I lose my balance. I try to grab hold of the beam with my left hand but pain burns through my arm.

"Yumi!" I hear several voices yell but before my left hand lets go and I fall into the void, someone grabs my arm. My right arm. I look up and see William holding me up with a firm grip. I gasp and clutch his arm with my right hand.

"William.." Even though he's still under Xana's control...he saved me by his own choice.

In that moment I feel something pass through me and into him- and then I devirtualize, leaving the moment behind. Thoughts spiral through my head and I wonder, 'Did it work? Did it malfunction? Could it have been a trick?' Suddenly the realization of my own foolishness hits me hard.

What if the whole William's twin thing was just a Xana trick? What if he isn't real and we just did something awful to William? The door of the scanner opens and half step and half fall through. The door closes immediately after I'm out and I realize Jeremy must have devirtualized everyone- that or the sheer number of monsters overwhelmed them because all of the scanners are going.

A second later, another scanner opens and William falls through, and down- on his face. I run over to him and pull him a few feet away from the scanner and against the wall. I sit him up and turn as Ulrich and Odd come out of the scanners, then Astrid follow from the one William was in.

"Yumi you did it!" She's says and I nod, looking at William. Someone comes down the stairs and we turn to see Eric. He walks over to William and just looks at him with a blank expression.

"Idiot." He says quietly and sighs. "Jeremy says we have to get him back in the scanner, since you transferred some of his consciousness to his clone- you've got to transfer it back." Eric says and I look at him suspiciously. He raises an eyebrow and I bend down to help him but Ulrich pushes past me.

"I'll do it." He says and I snort. Back to this again. They haul him into the scanner and Astrid and Odd tell me about the 'ten billion' monsters they faced.

"They just kept coming, how did Xana even have enough power to do that without a tower?" Astrid pulls a loose piece of hair behind her ear and crosses her arms. I shrug and yawn, realizing how tired I am.

"We can probably assume that Xana will need as much of a break as we do." Odd says grinning at me. I roll my eyes and punch him in the arm. He just laughs and I cover one hand with another.

When did Odd get actual muscles in his arm? Now that I'm looking at him..he does look taller. Has he finally reached a growth spurt? The thought amuses me and I lean back against the wall, wondering how long it'll take Jeremy to fix up William.

"incoming!" Jeremy calls down and Ulrich and Eric prepare to catch William as he falls out of the scanner again. The catch him by the arms and thankfully, he opens his eyes.

"William!" I say happily and a collective cheer goes up. Even Ulrich looks happy to see him, which is certainly something.

"Welcome back, handsome!" Odd says and William smiles.

"Thanks a lot." He says sincerely and then straightens up, regaining his balance. Before anyone says anything else he turns and sees Eric, his eyes widen and he opens his mouth to say something but Eric holds up his hand.

"Save it, I'm only here to repay a favor- and that's been done." Unlike before, upon seeing his brother Eric seems to have gained a colder attitude. We're all silent, waiting for what happens next.

"You two really look a lot alike." Astrid mumbles a little too loud. We all turn to her and she puts two hands over her mouth. "Whoops." She says through them and Odd and Ukrich laugh, I grin and she sheepishly smiles. She effectively broke the tension.

"Who are you?" William asks and Eric turns and climbs up the ladder. William makes a sour face but then turns back to Astrid.

"My names Astrid." She says and looks after Eric.

"We should get back to school, the sooner you're back home the better." I say and Everyone nods. Finally all the suspicion would die down. We all climb up the ladder and meet Aelita and Jeremy, from which William recieves more cheers of success.

We head out of the factory and tell him lots about what's happened when he was gone. The whole deal with Astrid too, at first I worried that he would be jealous we let her join with us so quickly compared to him- but he took it fine.

Then, in the middle of the woods, William groans and falls to one knee. I run to him quickly and he clutches his head, like he's trying to hold something back.

"William what's wrong!?" I exclaim and he shakes his head.

"I- some things.. From when I was under Xana's control...they're coming back..memories that is." His voice is strained and we all share a look of concern.

"like what?" Ulrich asks and William finally lets go of his head and looks up.

"Xana, it's not just a computer program." He catches his breath and stands up shakily.

"Of course it's not, it's much more it's practically-" Jeremy starts to say something but William interrupts him,

"Human. Xana- at least part of him is human." He says and a gust of winds pushes against us.

"Him?" Astrid asks looking thoroughly spooked, I guess we all do. Something about the fear in her eyes looks different though.

"Yeah, it was a man. Also, aside from the whole taking over the world thing, he was looking for someone." William winced again and we all shared looks. It's obvious, exactly who he was looking for.

"Astrid." Odd says gingerly and William nods. The wind stops blowing and I shiver, holding my arms to me. A fierce sense of protectiveness washes over me bup just then we hear a voice yelling,

"What are you kids doing here at this hour!? Get back to the school pronto!"

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**How'd you like it? This was more of a mechical chapter, I didn't really add as much emotion to Yumi as I probably should've. But hey, we all know it's there. *sigh* I just love Love Triangles. Anywho I've gotten super excited for what's coming next, and I hope you have too! Have a good day and thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

_Me? Am I really important at all? Is my self conscious just failing me or do I really not have a place in this society?_

_Who else feels this way? Like everyone was made with a purpose, with a reason to live- everyone but you? I feel this way all the time, is it true?_

_Or does everyone have a destiny? Even me. I'm here because there's something that only I can do- only I'm made as a perfect puzzle piece for this life. We all are. We all fit in somewhere, perfectly._

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**Hey hey how's it going? So I've got a nice chapter planned out, and I hope you enjoy it! (Betcha weren't expecting another chapter so soon huh?)**

**To **Ayami55 **I'm glad you like the mini plot twist that I included, there's going to be a lot more of Xana interactions in the near future of this fanfiction. I can't wait to hear what you think about it! Thank you for reviewing!**

**To **My Lovely Guest **I was planning on it! ㈴1 Thanks a bunch!**

**Note: When all else fails with romantic creativity ~eat chocolate~**

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Astrid's POV

We got in major trouble for being out in the woods late, and all of us were assigned not detention- but chores. Yumi, Aelita, and I have to wash the dishes after lunch, Odd and William have to clean the auditorium, and Ulrich and Jeremy have to clean the four closest bathrooms to the cafeteria.

"And on top of that all of us are on the committee for the dance!" Aelita says grudgingly. I grunt and fall back on my bed, holding my pillow in my arms. "Jim was seriously harsh.."

"Yeah, well at least we don't have detention right?" I say, truthfully I'm grateful for this new bit of work. The dance is in three days, and we have to set it up with everyone, along with doing the dishes. It may be unpleasant, but it affectively keeps my mind off the recent dilemmas.

Xana is part human, like me. Xana is also searching for someone - me. The only person I know who would do that..is my brother. What if that's it? What if he's somehow Xana!?

I shake my head and roll over burying my face in the pillow. Please don't let it be true, he's hurt everyone so much..that's not who he is. Why would he do all of this stuff?

"Astrid are you alright?" Aelita asks and I sit up to give her a smile. Everyone, I know I should tell them about Danny and myself but..I need to organize my thoughts first. I've got to figure out just what happened after the incident in the lab. I know we have a grave for Danny, and we had a funeral service. But what if he's not dead!? What if he's alive..

"Yeah, I'm just worried I guess. This whole thing about Xana just..."

"frightens you? It scares all of us to be honest. This whole time we thought it's been a computer- but a man? That's, well, terrifying. My dad created that- him. I wonder how he did it." She says and I gasp softly. Of course! It can't be Danny because it we Aeilta's father who created Xana in the first place.

But then, why was he looking for me?

(ugh, does not matter. Can't I have more than a few moments of happiness?!)

"You're right Aeilta, I'm just spooked. Pretty tired too. I'm going to bed, good night." I say and she responds with good night as well and turns off the light.

* * *

In the morning we did the usual 'routine' (if you can call it that) and left the dorms early to meet with everyone in the recreation rooms. Last night we decided it would be a good idea to hang out together for a bit before breakfast. However, that also meant getting up earlier, which is not good for exhausted teens.

"*_yawn_* At least we didn't have to deal with Sissy this morning." Aelita says and I nod in agreement. I may be distressed with all the trouble with my past but I fully realize that I'm very happy here. With Aelita, Yumi, Odd, Ulrich, Jeremy, and now William too. I never dreamed that I would come back to a life like this. Heck, when I first met them I still believed that everyone around me gets hurt.

Which, even though history has proven that true, I feel so confident that it won't be the same this time. I've finally made friends that I can count on, and there's no way I'm going to lose them this time!

I sigh contently as we pass by the vending machine for drinks and such. I stop and pull out some change that I had in my jacket pocket.

"Aelita, you go ahead- I'm going to get some tea." I say pointing my thumb to the machine and she nods. Chai tea has to be the best thing in the mornings.

"You don't want me to stay?" She asks as the early morning chill makes it's presence known with a huge blast of wind to our faces. Gee, thanks nature. I shake my head and start putting the coins in.

"No, it's getting to cold. Trust me I'll be quick." I say and she nods and scurries off quickly to the rec. rooms. We're currently in that part of the year where it's super cold in the morning but in the afternoons you don't even want to look at a jacket or you'll start sweating.

I bounce on my toes as the cup fills with tea, but turn as a figure starts walking up to me. It's Eric..or William. They look so alike from a distance I can't tell who it is. I pick up the cup when it's full and turn and wave.

"Hi Astrid, how's it going?" He asks and I smile, it's Eric. To be honest- him knowing a big part of what happened, and me hardly knowing him is troubling. What should I say to him? How should I act? Does this automatically force us to be better friends or should I just ignore him?

"Well as I'll ever be, what are you doing up so early?" I take a sip of the coffee and he shrugs.

"I could ask you the same thing." He says and I raise and eyebrow, he laughs good humoredly and I decide to let it slide.

"We're hanging out in the rec. rooms- do you want to join us?" I ask and suddenly wonder if that's a good idea to invite him. Of course it is, he helped us a lot. Right?

"Nah, actually I'm leaving in a few hours." He says and I widen my eyes. Leaving Kadic?

"But you just got here, and I thought you said you were staying for a while?" I ask and he shrugs again.

"Yeah well I was found out and my 'friends' are throughly pissed at me, you know for leaving spontaneously.. They demanded I come back and you know, they're probably right." He says and I shift my feet.

"These people know about lyoko and Xana and everything?" I ask and to my surprise he shakes his head.

"No, actually I'm the only who knows about your lyoko- and I only got involved for William. In the end we're working with something much less dangerous to the world, our supercomputer isn't as advanced as yours. Anyway, it's a long story and it's better if you guys just take it easy for now. Xana has your hands full, so wouldn't it be best if you kept it that way for a bit?" He finishes and I narrow my eyes. He asking me to convince everyone that it's not a problem for now. To leave it alone, somehow make them understand. Or maybe just to lie to them.

"I'm sorry, but it's not my choice to make for the team. If they want to investigate it- then I'm not going to stop them." I say and he nods, like he expected it.

"You're loyal, I'll give you that. I guess I've already passed my meddling limits anyway. Actually I just came to talk to you so I could tell you something else." He says and I instantly what he means.

"What happened to me in the lab...the fact that you saw it all..." I say and trail off.

"I won't tell anyone, I promise. But if you ever need me- for anything, well -here." He sands me an index card with a number and email on it. For a second I just stare at it. Then I rip it in half and pull a pen from my pocket. I write my number and email too and hand it to him.

"Likewise." I say and for a second everythings relaxed and friendly between us, just regular people who know each other.

"I've got to go." He says and I nod, this'll be goodbye for a while right?

"one more question." I say and he takes a step closer to me. This has been bothering me for a while, I can't let it go until I see him again, "When we first met, why did you kiss me? You could've gotten our attention by just saying a sentence. So why kiss me?" I ask and he steps closer to me, suddenly it feels like my chest is tightening.

"You reminded me of someone my uncle knew. He says it was his greatest regret to this day, that he didn't kiss her goodbye one last time." Eric says with a sly smiled on his face. "That- aaand I saw William's clone, and was kinda annoyed. I wanted to make your friends angry- sorry. It wasn't your first kiss was it?" He says and I roll my eyes.

"The latter story is much more believable than the former. And no it was not." I say laughing depite the pang I feel from remembering my first kiss. "I have to get going, and probably so do you." I say and turning to walk to the rec. room.

"Take care, Hax!" He calls and I look back and wave goodbye. He turns and runs, while I stand there wondering if it really was a lie about that whole sob story.

Finally I turn to walk into the trailer, but the door opens just as I reach for it. I take several quick steps back and so does the person on the other side. Odd blinks for a second and then turns and calls into the room, "Found her."

He steps out of the trailer followed by everyone else. Oops, I guess I took too long. Aelita looks at me amusedly and I shrug with a smile on my face.

"Sorry, I ran into someone." I say

"Who?" Yumi asks, curiously. I wonder what they talked about while I was gone. We start walking to the cafeteria and Odd falls in beside me.

"Eric, he's leaving town today."

"Already?" Jeremy says surprised and I nod.

"I wonder if he talked to William before he went." Aelita muses.

"We didn't get a chance to ask him about the others out there." Ulrich states and I turn to Odd, he's being unusually quiet- I wonder what's up.

"Actually I did ask him about that." I explain to them about our conversation- of course leaving out the whole kissing thing. When I'm done we've reach the cafeteria and just kinda stand next to the door.

"That's...complicated I guess." Yumi says and Jeremy sighs.

"So? What do we want to do? Should we investigate it or leave it be for now?" He asks and we all look around at each other.

Nobody says anything for a full minute before Odd finally speaks up. "We shouldn't decide now, what we choose could decide what we spend our time on for a while. I think we should really think about what we should prioritize." He says, frankly stunning everyone.

"Odd that's actually a really intelligent idea. Where did that come from?" Ulrich says and Odd gives him a crooked smile.

"Cmon I can have my moments! Besides I'm hungry and don't want to stand out here for any longer!" He says and we all laugh and agree.

"Tomorrows that dance, so why don't we do it the morning after?" Aelita suggest and I groan.

"Another early morning?" I complain but with humor in my voice. That's what we agree on and the rest of the morning passes smoothly. Occasionally I'll see one of them thinking about something, lost so far in thought that the teacher has to call them back to earth.

Odd and I chat casually during class and I begin to wonder what made him so quiet earlier. Before I know it it's after lunch and Aelita, Yumi, and I finish the dishes. We break off for classes and then come back afterwards. Tomrrow we have off from school for the dance, but that just means more homework. Much more homework.

Finally we're all sitting at a table in the auditorium finishing up the last of the homework so we can start setting up decorations. The other people on the committee went and bought all of them, so they claimed it was our job to set them up. It's not really that surprising because they were all upperclassmen, but I don't mind much anyways.

"Done." I say and stretch, letting my pencil drop on my notebook.

"Geeze you're fast, can you help me with number 27?" Ulrich grumbles still stuck on the math problems. I stand up to go help him but then someone taps me on the shoulder.

"Astrid you've got a letter waiting in the office, you should probably hurry to pick it up." A voice says from behind me and I turn to see Milly Solovieff. She's a seventh grader that does reports and such with her friend whose name I can't recall. Tammy maybe?

"Oh, alright." I say and stretch over to table to take a quick peek at Ulrich's work. "In one of your steps you left out the negative sign." I say and with that I turn to walk out of the cafeteria. When I get to the office I pick up the letter and thank the secretary.

Once I have it, I open it as I walk back to the auditorium. However, when I see who it's from I stop cold. 'Jimmy'. I haven't...we were friends from the orphanage before the coma, but I never imagined to receive something like this from him.

I read through the letter, which was roughly the same as Gwen's just way shorter. He asked how I was and what I'd been up to, then told me about everything that's happened to him. At the end he told me some encouraging words and then told me about a note included that I didn't even notice. It's at the bottom of the envelope, and I pull it out to read it.

However as soon as I see who it's from I shove it back in the envelope. No, no way. Not happening. There's no way Alex sent me a note. What will it say? Will he apologize or defend himself? I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment and then open them to pull out the last thing in the envelope.

For a second I'm very confused as to why I'm staring at a thumb-sized teardrop shaped block of wood that's crudely painted red. Then I recognize it and realize it's not a teardrop, it's half a heart. My heart feels numb and I slowly put it, not in the envelope but into my pocket.

I hesitantly open the note that he sent me and slowly read the few words that are on the page. 'I loved you, I miss you, but I hope you've moved on like I have. Some day we should hang out again with everyone together - Alex'

At first a wave of sorrow washes over me, but then it passes and changes it anger. Rage, to be more precise.

What the hell!? I've gotten over you a thousand times over, asshole! I didn't ask for this dumb letter or this dumb heart! You can take all of those years back for all I care! "Get over yourself!" I actually say out loud and rip up the note. I storm over to the nearest trash can and dump the shred of paper in it.

"Astrid?" Someone's voice from behind calls my name and I turn to see Odd. Did he come to check on me? I stare at him surprised, not knowing what to do. Oh dear, he just saw me get really angry didn't he.

"h-hey there." I say and he walks up to me.

"Are you alright? I just got this feeling, like something might be wrong." He says and I smile gratefully. He was worried about me.. For some reason my heart is beating very quickly, and I notice that the hallway has become empty.

"Thank you. I got a letter from an old friend...and a small note from...'someone else'" I try to speak impassively but I can't help but grow mutinous when I think about him. Odd smiles and I tuck a loose piece of hair behind my ear. "Yeah, I guess it's just disconcerting. I.. The only way I was able to move on after woke up was to get it in my head that it was a clean start. That I'd leave everything behind. Recently though my old friends have contacted me and even though it's thoughtful of them I can't..." I bite my lip and look at him, he has this easy look on his face that tells me his listening.

"You can't let that mix with this, with everyone here?" He offers and I nod, pleasantly surprised that he understood.

"If something were to happen again, if I had to leave you guys behind...I don't know what I'd do. You're everything to me." I say and then I blush. "I mean- you as in everyone! Like You, Yumi, Aelita, Ulrich, Jeremy- everyone." I say nervously, my heart beating even quicker. How fast can you even go, dammit?

"Right, I feel the same way. 'Everyone' here has grown precious to me, and I really enjoy the time I spend with 'everyone'." He says jokingly and I laugh trying to hide how nervous I feel.

Could it be.. Odd and I are just friends right? Definitely. I look away for a bit but then look back at him. Our eyes meet and he smiles. It's like a warm blanket around my fragile heart, and I smile back softly.

"You know, Jeremy already asked Aelita- and I know Ulrich was planning on hiking up his skirt to ask Yumi so-" he starts but I interrupt him.

"Wanna go to the dance together?" I blurt out and then blush and look away again. My mind wanders to the time we bumped into each other. Afterwards we both kinda stared at each other for a while. "You know, as friends..or something." I say and look away from him.

"You could've let me asked, I was so prepared- even if I didn't try to write a poem, like Ulrich." Odd says and I turn to look at him. He's smiling and I snort. "Emphasis on 'try'"

"Just answer the question." I say and he shrugs. I punch his shoulder and he laughs.

"Of course Astrid, why would I say anything different than yes?"

"I dunno, I just had to here you say yes." I say and he leans close to me. Earlier this year, he would've had to have stand in his toes to reach me, but now he can do it easily. His hand brushes my cheek and I squeeze my eyes shut.

"You had an eyelash." He says and I hear footsteps walking away. When I open my eyes my knees feel weak he's already walking back to the auditorium. 'Why?,' I wonder. For sone reason I thought he was going to kiss me.

"Wait up!" I call after him and together we walk into the auditorium laughing. I catch Yumi's eye and she raises an eyebrow with an amused look on her face. I stick my tongue out at her and she rolls her eyes.

Thrity minutes later we had put our school things away and started working on the decorations. I lifted Aelita into the air on my shoulders and she and I strung up streamers and other decorations. Yumi was tying balloons everywhere and to everything while the boys finished their cleaning duties. During that time William came and joined us to take up his part of the cleaning too.

"Astrid watch out!" Aelita says and something drops down right in front of me. The tape. "I dropped it." She says and I laugh.

"Okay just jump down for a second." I say and start kneeling down own. She jumps off and sticks the landing, like a true lyokolian. "Well, we already have enough decorations in this part anyway." I say and she nods.

"So, what's going on with you and Odd?" She's asks casually and I shrug.

"What about you and Jeremy?" I ask and she shrugs. We both share a look and giggle, then Yumi walks over with a mischievous look on her face.

"Hey girls, I think I've got an idea to make this a lot more fun." Yumi says and holds up a bag full of glitter. I raise and eyebrow and glance at the boys. OH, won't this be so much fun!

* * *

**What's this? I'm already finished with this chapter? I had quite a lot of fun writing this one actually. Well I really hope you enjoy this fun little chapter. I don't think there was much new stuff in here but hey, they had some fun so why not cut them a break? I'm going to try and get another chapter out by tomorrow night cause after that I'll have a ton of stuff to do. I won't have another free weekend till November. Thank you guys for hanging in there with me! Have a good day!❤️❤️**


	11. Chapter 11

_I love you, I miss you, but I can't accept what you're trying to do. Believe me when I say I need this._

_I need my friends, I need them so much. _

_You can't, and never will change that._

* * *

**Alright, let hope this one goes strong too! This one is going to be LONG. Like really long. (5,353 words to be exact) I had so many ideas and well, probably got too wordy for my own good ㈳7 Anywho I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!**

**To **LyokoLover **I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for reviewing! This'll sadly be the last speedy update in a while, but I'll surely make updates faster from now on!**

**Welp, here goes nothing!**

* * *

Astrid's POV

I sprint down the hall and through the cafeteria, danger high on my heels. Behind me are three very angry boys...who just got a huge bag of glitter/glue combo dumped on them.

"Gotcha!" Ulrich says as he reaches to grab me. Squealing, I roll on the ground to avoid him and look back for only a second to see him on his knees. Haha!

"You're gonna so pay for that Astrid!" William says with humor in his voice. I know Odds behind him but I'm too scared to turn and look incase William is close enough to grab me.

"Astrid, you've gotta face the consequences eventually!" Odd shouts and I laugh upon seeing Yumi and Aelita in the entrance to the girls bathroom. There's no door for this one just a small hall that eventually turns the corner into the bathroom.

"Not yet I won't!" I call back before dashing into the bathroom- safe ground. Yumi and Aelita cheer successfully and the boys groan in defeat. I lean against the wall and sink to the floor, catching my breath.

"That was amazing!" Aelita says and peeks out to look at the boys, but instantly pulls her head back in, giggling while she does. "Oops, the boys are mad though." We laugh and when I catch my breath I stand up.

"What should we do now?" Yumi asks and I shrug, this'll be all out war I suppose. Suddenly, before I have a chance to suggest the escape plan that I was formulating, my phone buzzed. I pulled it out of pocket and check the ID, "Cidak Company" is what appear and I swallow hard.

"I-I have to take this." I whisper before flipping open my phone. "Hello?" I say and walk deeper into the bathroom for privacy. Yumi and Aelita share confused looks before resuming scheming.

"_Hello, Astrid? It's me Mrs. Austen, Your father's secretary._" The voice on the line says and I tense up. What does he want? Why now? I bite my lip and wipe my glitter covered hands on my jeans.

"Um, right hi. What do you need?" I ask

"_Your father wants to see you. He's got some suggestions about your future._" I sigh and switch the phone to my other hand. The hell? Suggestions about my future!? He has...no right.

Sadly if I actually said that to him I'm sure he would pull me out of Kadic and send me to some all girls finishing school. That or..he'd get angry again. I hold back another sigh and suck it up.

"When does he want to see me?" I ask and I can hear her breach out with relief.

"_There's a car coming to pick you up in five minutes. I understand that you have the day off for a dance so you should have no problems making it right? Don't worry, you'll be back with plenty of time to get ready and attend." _She finishes

"Alright, I'll be there. But this has to go quickly I have other things to do today." I say and hang up. Turning to look at Yumi and Aelita I see the unspoken question on their faces. "Um..I have to go for a little bit today. I'll be back in time, hopefully, for us to go get dresses like we planned." I say and start walking out of the bathroom.

"Astrid, where do you have to go?" Yumi asks and when we're out from the bathroom the boys grow visibly confused at our manors.

"My...this man..." I close my eyes for a second. Come on face it! He's your- "Father. My father wants to talk to me." I finish and realize that I'm holding my arms to my chest. The others are quiet for a moment, how scared must I look?

"Why don't we come with you?" Aelita suggests and I look at her suprised. Them..coming with me? It feels almost too good to be true. With my friends there it would be...so much easier.

"Would you?" I ask quietly and Aelita wraps me in a hug. Yumi does the same and when we let go we turn to the guys.

"You're not thinking of leaving us behind, are you?" Ulrich asks with an eyebrow raised.

"Well someone has to finish setting up the dance." Yumi says and Jeremy walks towards from the other room.

"We can ask Milly and Tamiya to help out." He says and the two girls come running in.

"We get to finish setting up! This'll be so much fun!" Tamiya says and I smile.

"The car probably won't be able to hold all of us though." I point out and Odd shrugs.

"We'll walk. You aren't getting rid of us easily ya know." He says and I nod happily.

"Besides the fact that we're covered in glitter, I'm sure they'll welcome us in the building. We look responsible enough." William jokes and puts emphasis on the words glitter. We all laugh and I wonder how they do it. How these people change my world from collapsing to prospering in only a minute.

With that we walked out of the building. The driver of the car didn't say anything when Yumi, Aelita, and I all got in the car. I gave the boys the address of the company and a map just in case, so hopefully they won't get lost.

The car speeds along and for once I'm not dreading meeting with my father. It's only happened a few times, but every time has been agonizing. This time it's different.

* * *

William's POV

We head down the street and talk about random things. It's okay hanging out with these guys, but I've got other stuff on my mind. Ever since I escaped from Xana, everything has been confusing. Don't get me wrong it's been amazing, freedom is seriously sweet. But it's like its still there.

The thing is, it's different than they think. Xana didn't just possess me, he..changed me somehow. It's like he altered me so much that when they put me back together, it doesn't exactly fit. There are times, moment when I feel different. I feel wrong. And it's agonizing trying to figure what it's is that's wrong.

Then occassionally I'll hear him again, Xana. He used to talk to me and give me orders to do, but that was only in lyoko. Here, he'll speak and I'll ignore it, but I understand it. What he wants me to do that is.

There's more to Xana than meets the eye, he has..._emotion_ inside of him.

I push away my thoughts and zone back into the conversation.

"She's got a lot to hold on her shoulders that's for sure." Ulrich says with sympathy in his expression.

"You guys have gotten to know Astrid well, huh?" I ask and they nod.

"The thing is I wonder if we'll ever know her well enough. It seems like she has something new every week." Jeremy says and I notice that Odd has stopped talking, which is very rare.

"She has a connection with Xana, he's been searching for her for a while." I say and Jeremy nods.

"Her data was in the super computer. I think it's more than just a connection with Xana, it's the databases. She's the only one able to access the information centers in sector five." Jeremy says thinking about it.

"There's more to her than just her connection to that. She's a person." Odd says defensively and I hold back a smile. Does he have a crush? Suddenly I get the dark, murky feeling that comes every time Xana tries to connect to me.

"I know Odd, she's our friend above anything. But as her friend I'm worried." Jeremy says softly and Ulrich laughs.

"What are we? Girls? Come on enough soppy friendship stuff, we've got to hurry if we're going to get there in time." Ulrich exclaims and we all start running. Even Jeremy puts the pedal to the metal in an effort to keep up with us.

* * *

Aelita's POV

"Even though the guys aren't here yet, are you sure you want to go up without us?" I ask and Astrid nods. She walks inside elevator and holds her hand over the closing doors.

"Taking me this far is enough, I don't think my father would be kind to you anyway." She says and I nod. Yumi snorts though, obviously disagreeing.

"We can take it, he'll just have to get used to us anyway." Yumi complains and after a stare down with Astrid, she finally sighs. "Alright, but come back to us in one piece okay?" She says and Astrid smiles.

"Of course."

"When you come back, we'll all be waiting for you- and then we'll go do something fun!" I say and Astrid nods and pushes a button. 'Floor number six, room F5' is what the lady said for her to go to.

Once she's gone Yumi and I sit down in the waiting area of the lobby. I wonder what kind of company this place is, it doesn't advertise much of the things it does.

Just then, the boys walk in and I stand up and wave to them. They come over and fill up the rest of the space in the waiting area. I don't think this place gets many visitors at one time.

"So she already went up?" Odd asks and I nod.

"Her father must be pretty awful if she gets this nervous just seeing him, she was pacing at the secretary's desk." Yumi speculates and Ulrich nods.

"My dad would get along with her's." He says humorously and I sigh. My dad doesn't exactly deserve 'parent of the year' either..but at least he's kind.

We chat randomly about the stores around the area for a few minutes. Eventually a strange woman walks up to the secretary's desk and speaks with her for a bit. Then she looks over to us and I turn away.

"Hello kids, what are you waiting for?" The woman comes up and asks us. My attention is distracted by Odd standing up so fast he nearly knocks the coffee table over.

"Odd, are you okay?" Jeremy asks and Odd narrows his eyes at the woman.

"Peachy," he says but doesn't sit down. For a second we're there looking at him and the woman simply smiles politely.

"Our friend Astrid went to go meet with her father." I say and the woman nods.

"Ah Astrid, we've met before. She's...special. I wouldn't wait too long for her okay?" She says and walks up to me. "If you need anything, here's my card. Also don't tell her about this little meeting, she would get angry." The woman smiles and walks away. I narrow my eyes, growing suspicious, and flip the card over so I can see her name.

"Jane Romina. That's her name." I say and look around at the others. We sit in tense silence for a second before Odd starts walking forward.

"Where did she go, floor and room number?" He asks and I stand up too.

"Odd she told us not to go up with her." I say but he doesn't back down. I sigh and say, "Floor 6, room F5" he practically punches the floor number in the elevator. At this point everybody is standing and no doubt debating on whether to go with him or not.

"Wait, I'll go with you." Yumi says and William walks over with her, although he says nothing he's got a determined look in his face.

"We'll go too-" Ulrich starts to say but Yumi holds up her hand.

"You should pick out a nice place to eat or something. I've got a feeling we'll need it when we come back." She says and the elevator door closes around the three of them. The three of us left, Jeremy, Ulrich, and I, stare after them. Finally Jeremy lets out a long whistle and sits down, pulling his laptop from his bag.

"That was certainly dramatic."

* * *

Astrid's POV

"Are you liking Kadic?" Is the first thing that my father asked me. He's a tall well built man (Blegh) and I swear he wears suits so much he must sleep in them. His hair is dark brown and his eyes are grey. He's only ever not shaved once in his life and I think that was after mom died.

I groan quietly and fidget in my chair. This is so awkward, here I was thinking he would yell at me for some reason but this, he has a hard face on with cold eyes, this is just plain awkward. Then again I think the only reason he looks at me like that is because I remind him of mom and Danny.

"It's...better than I ever thought it could be." I say exhaling as I do. I smile a bit just thinking of the place and his eyes soften, which is about as close to a smile as you get with this fellow.

"That's good." He says and I raise an eyebrow.

"Okay spill it, what did you call me here for there has to be a reason right? If it's about grades I have them all above a ninety five except for earth science but who cares about rocks anyway!?" I say all really fast and nervously. His eyes widen and I fidget even more in the chair I'm seated in across from his desk.

"Can't I simply see my daughter without an alternative reasoning?" He asks and I flinch.

"You never have before." I say and he sighs. Bullseye.

"Fine, there's a woman here who wants to start meeting with you. She thinks she can help you fix things with...your issues. Her name is Jane Romina." I widen my eyes and shake my head.

"Issues? I don't have issues thank you. It's everyone around me that refused to tell me the truth when all of this..this shit happened in my life!" I say raising my voice. That name...why does that name sound familiar?

"Astrid." My father starts scoldingly but I cut him off.

"Father. I used to have brown hair, and brown eyes. Just like mom and Danny didn't I?" I says softly and look down at the floor. "I don't know why, but you somehow managed to convince everyone to keep me in the dark about it. My issues only start there. For another thing I was in a coma for ten years which shouldn't even be possible but hell, why not!? I don't need some outsider to come help me with this- because I've been dealing with it on my own for a while now!" I say and raise my head to look at him square in the eyes.

"Astrid, you shouldn't go through this on your own-"

"So now you care about that? Well don't worry cause I have friends that help me get through it." I think of Yumi, Aleita, Odd, Jeremy, Ulrich, and even William. I was able to open my heart to them. "They're always there for me." I say smiling, looking forward to tonight and the dance.

"Ah yes those..delinquents. I don't think it's a good idea to be hanging around them. Maybe it would be better if you-" my father started to say growing a cold and dangerous look in his eyes. If the door to the room hadn't been opened right at that moment I know he would've said to switch schools, move again. I turn around and see Odd enter.

"Odd, what are you doing!?" I ask and stand up. My father is quiet while Odd grins at him.

"Sorry sir but Astrid has an appointment with therapist Odd and friends for a bit, so you'll have to excuse her." He says and leans close to whisper something in my ear. "We have to leave right now, do you trust me?"

I look between my father and Odd, and then spot that just inside the doorway are Yumi and William. I smile and laugh, turning back to my father one last time.

"Sorry daddy, I've got to go." I say with a wink and leave the room. Odd closes the door behind him with a wave and then we spring down the hallway and into the elevator.

"You have impeccable timing." I say but Odd grows a serious look on his face. "What's up? Xana?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"I saw her, she's older but I'm certain she was the same." He says and Yumi and William look confused.

"Odd what do you mean?" Yumi asks while I study his face for a minute. Suddenly I widen my eyes and feel the blood drain from my face.

"The one who did..." I trail off and he nods. I cover my mouth with my hands feel real fear rising in my chest.

"Astrid?" William asks and the elevator door opens. Jeremy, Ulrich, and Aelita notice us and walk over. I lower my hand from my face and look between all of them.

"I- I have something important to tell everyone." I whisper and step out the elevator. "It's uh..yeah..not exactly good news." Aelita blinks and tilts her head a bit.

"So..things did go well with your father?"

* * *

Soon, we're out of the building and drinking hot chocolate at a petite little cafe a few blocks from the company. I stare at my untouched drink, trying to put together what exactly I'll tell them.

"Well?" Aelita prompts gently and I nod. Odd, knowing the secret that I'm about to spill, puts his hand on my shoulder comfortingly.

"Okay. So I know we promised not to keep anymore secrets, but this was kinda...personal. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but I had to sort it out first, in fact I still haven't gotten far in doing that but with this woman appearing..." I stare down at the business card Aelita had given me and I took a deep breath.

"Before I fell into the coma, I lived with my brother in an apartment that he payed for with his daily job- or more like an internship at a research facility. I never knew what they were researching, but I would sometimes go and spend time there. Helping out miscellaneous jobs that needed doing. We were pretty happy and it was great. My brothers name was.. Daniel, but I call him Danny." I say and look around at my friends. We're sitting at a circle shaped table, on my right it goes Odd, then Jeremy, then Yumi, then Ulrich, then William, and finally Aelita on my left.

"But one day, when I went to help out again, I heard a scream when I was just outside the door to their lab. Normally I don't go in the lab..but it sounded like Danny. So I went in and talked to this woman. Jane Romina, my brothers partner. After that a man came in and said the 'implantation' had failed, and if it was going to work they needed 'her' immediately." I say and look down at the hot chocolate again.

My friends were silent so I closed my eyes and continued. "That was me. Jane grabbed me and forced me into this room, and then...is all fuzzy from there. But whatever they didn't to me- it put something in me. A program. It grew inside me and changed me. I used to have curly brown hair but it changed it to white, my eyes too."

"The day that Odd, Eric, and I were unconscious..we were like spectators observing the scene from just before I went in the lab. Jane was talking to a man about.. If the experiment works than they can make more, and they could use those people as weapons. Against people, against entire countries, they would be a program.. So they could program them to do whatever they wanted. my brother didn't survive the procedure. But I did. And when I woke up the place was leveled. There was nothing there except for rubble. I knew nothing, I- I didn't even remember I had brown hair." I wipe a tear away angrily and finally open my eyes again.

"Those awful people." Yumi murmurs and I shrug.

"I don't get it, if the place was leveled; how did that woman survive?" Ulrich asks and I shrug again.

"Don't you guys care..they could..they could use me to hurt people- and I won't be able to do anything about it...if she's here..I'm just a liability." I say miserably.

"Hey, I tried to capture Aelita and hurt the others a bunch, do you blame me?" William asks and I shake my head. "So, that's settled. I'm a liability too if you look at it that way. What if Xan can easily control me, you wouldn't give up and say screw it just for that." He says and takes a long sip of his hot chocolate.

"Me too, I still can't survive if the super computer is shut down- but if we did shut it down then everyone would be free of Xana." Aelita says and smiles at me encouragingly. "Come on silly you know we love you." That's right, she remembers very little about her past too.

"I think I've got it too. When you were in your coma, it was the exact same time that Aelita was stuck in the super computer, when it was shut down. You're also not affected by returns to the past. It all has to be connected somehow." Jeremy says and I widen my eyes.

"Do you think... we can somehow figure it all out?" I ask hopefully. There's still much of a mystery to my past but..not nearly as much as there was.

"Definitely." He says and feel my eyes start to water, cmon you're not this much of a cry baby!

"I know what we should do. We're trying to decide what to do for the next few weeks. I place executive vote, we try to sort out everything's that happened with Astrid! If we use the supercomputers huge database- it shouldn't be a problem right?" Odd says and to my surprise the others nod.

"I think so too, although, executive vote Odd? Really?" Ulrich says and Odd laughs.

"Ditto, Astrid just you wait!" Aelita says happily.

"Mmhmm. Aelita too, they could be connected, maybe this facility had something to do with her too." Yumi smiles

"I think we can spare some time to look for it, who knows maybe we'll find some clues on your antivirus too Aelita." Jeremy concedes and finally everyones looking at Wiliam.

"Come on, we haven't got all day handsome." Odd says

"You want my vote too?" He asks and we nod.

"You're in too deep anyway, looks like you're apart of the team." Jeremy says and we all cheer.

"Alright then yeah, whatever I can do to help. Astrid deserves to find some answers." He says and I smile softly.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you guys?" I say

* * *

Yumi's POV

I can't believe it, she was dealing with all that baggage- and was still able to smile? My skin gets goosebumps just thinking about it. After we finished our hot chocolate Astrid and Aelita went to the bathroom and I sat at the table with the boys.

"Astrid, Aelita, and I will stay out for a little while longer- you boys go back to Kadic and do what boys do before a dance or something. Make sure somebody gets some good music on the list before Milly and Tamiya fill it all with disney songs." I say and pull my foot up onto the chair, and my knee up to my chest.

"It's really no surprise what Astrid said today, ya know. With the whole message we got from Xana." Ulrich says and William looks confused.

"What note? What do you mean?" He asks and the four of us, Odd, Ulrich, Jeremy, and I, share a look.

"We didn't tell them about it, but when we met early in the morning it wasn't just to talk, it was about this." Jeremy shown William a picture of a message that got sent to the four of them.

'I want both Aelita and Astrid, each for their own purpose. If you do not wish to suffer the consequences then you will hand them over promptly. Otherwise, you know well my intentions.'

I've read that about a hundred times over, and it still makes me sick to my stomach. Not them, not my girls. He'll have to take them over my dead body.

"That's" William swallows and looks a tad pale, "Assertive."

"Uhuh, which only adds to the situation doesn't it." Ulrich grumbles but I know underneath its just because he's worried about them. Just then we head squeals and laughter from the bathroom.

"There's no way. There's no way we'll let Xana have his way." Odd says and Jeremy sighs.

"They obviously have enough to worry about, so don't mention it to them." He says and William nods. I know they'd feel bad if we don't tell them, but its for their own good. If they heard that, they would only try to sacrifice themselves, I'm sure.

Astrid and Aelita walk back over to the tables, and water covers both of their shirts in the front. I stand up and so do the guys.

"You two do know that's a bathroom, not a pool, right?" Ulrich says amused and Astrid puffs her cheeks while Aelita giggles.

"The sink just practically exploded on us!" Astrid says and I laugh, I'll take note to use the restroom somewhere else.

"Let's go, we don't have much time." I prompt and and they nod. We say goodbye to the guys and head out to visit a few stores. Once the three of us have picked up some nice and cheep dresses, we head back to Kadic.

When we get there we hang out in Aelita and Astrid's room, getting ready for the dance. I try to put some mascara on Astrid but she says she'd rather go with out. She looks sad and wistful for a second, so I decide to drop it. Of course in the end I do get her to put up her hair in a french braid.

"Aelita look! I found these hair clips, they go great with your dress!" Astrid exclaims pulling two light green hair clips out from her bag. We put them in Aelita's hair and happily watch as she admires them.

Eventually we hear a knock on the door and Astrid goes to open it. Behind are Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremy. When Ulrich finally asked me if I would go with, it truly made me very happy. I'll admit sometimes I think I might be better off trying it with Wiliam, but then Ulrich shows me his true self and I just can't help it. I care for him a lot, and I know he cares for me too.

I just wish he would stop sulking everytime William talks to me and just ask me out already.

* * *

Odd's POV

On our way down the dance, I slipped my hand in Astrid's which made her blush. That, of course, made me blush which made her laugh, which made me blush even more, which made her blush even more. Confusing, I know, but I finally calmed down and whispered to her,

"You look really beautiful, ya know." She turns to me and smiles.

"But I'm not wearing any make-up.."

"Exactly." I don't know when I started liking her, but I know I like her now. I like her a lot. Of course praise the lord when I finally seriously started to like someone I start growing. Of course there have been quite a few people I've dated before, but all of that was different from this. Way different.

Eventually we make it down to the dance and they start the whole thing with music and balloons and a snack table. Geeze all of this was set up while we were gone? Milly and Tamiya are seriously reliable, I'll have to remember that the next time I need someone to cover for me.

"Odd, thank you." Astrid says and I blink.

"You're not allowed to say that anymore, you've said it way too much already!" I say and she laughs softly. "But you're welcome."

We hang out together with the group for most of the dance, but then they put up a slow song and we break apart. I invite her to a dance and she agrees, we step out and she blinks nervously.

"Odd, I've never done this before." She whispers and I shrug, giving her a lax smile.

"Neither have I. Let's just roll with it eh?" I say and she nods.

We spend the song figuring out how to slow dance by looking off other couples. Eventually we get the hang of it and she puts her head on my shoulder. I sigh contently and wonder if I can ever make her happy enough to forget the troubles of her past.

* * *

Astrid's POV

The dance was amazing, but afterwards I was totally swamped. Jim ordered everyone back to our dorms at ten and we said goodbye to Yumi and William before walking back with Jeremy, Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, and I.

When Aelita and I are finally alone in our rooms she collaspes on her bed and rolls around gleefully. I smile and quickly grab a change of clothes and rush to the bathrooms. It takes forever because almost every girl has the same idea- quick shower before bed.

Finally I showered, changed into pajamas, and brushed my hair. When Aelita turned off the lights I smiled and fell asleep worry free for the first time in a week. Tomorrow we would start our search for my past, Aelita's too.

I cant imagine anywhere I'd rather be.

* * *

**Hiya! Wow that was a very long chapter Huh? I just got kinda...carried away? I thought about waiting another chapter for the dance and elaborating on it more, but I really wanted to do some classic Xana attacks for the next few chapters. Also I thought it might not be a bad idea to give you a long chapter before I have to go back to my actual life -ugh-. But the next chapters should have some more actions scenes and Lyoko scenes. Of course don't take my word for it I'm always changing my mind about this roleplay! I really hope you enjoyed this one so have a good day! (5,353 words I have to edit *screams like a little girl*)**


	12. Chapter 12

_Trust is a delicate thing._

_Isn't worth more than we can imagine? _

_I trust you, so trust me too?_

* * *

**Hey hey! Well I've got a chapter for you, though I'm still debating on whether to scrap the whole thing and do it over..well I guess it's too late now! Maybe if I have time later I'll go back and touch it up some more, anyways for now it'll have to do!**

**To **Ayami55 **Thanks a bunch! I'm doing my best to get these out as quick as I can now! ㈴1**

**To **my lovely guest **Actually, I haven't really watched much of Evolution, nor did I like it very much. It's just my opinion but no, nothing that came from code lyoko evolution will be in this story, less I hike up my skirt and finally decide to watch it. Thanks a bunch!**

**Speaking of which the plot in this story is kinda twisted around a bit as you can tell, but after this chapter and a few others- I'm going to be coming up with the Xana attacks on my own, and not basing them off the show. So things will eventually line up, hey what's the rush? Anyway I hope you enjoy this one!**

* * *

Astrid's POV

Several days later, I woke up to someone smacking their hands on my desk. Wait..my desk? I raise my head so quickly I probably could've given myself whiplash.

"Mrs. Hax do explain to us how to properly use he quadratic formula- obviously you know if you have enough confidence to sleep in my class." My teacher says and I blink. Oh shit, I fell asleep in class!?

"Uh, X equals negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four a c all over two a." I say and she nods her head. The class bursts out in laughter and I look up sheepishly at the teacher.

"Correct, I would expect nothing less from one of our top students. However because of this I will ask to meet you after class." She says and I nod. She walks back to the front of the classroom and starts teaching again and I glare jokingly at Odd.

"You could've woke me up you know." I whisper and he snickers.

"I'm sorry, but you looked like you could use the sleep!" I kick his leg and rest my head on my hand, quickly jotting down the notes I missed. When the end of class came I told the others to go ahead to lunch, and that I'd be there once I sorted this out.

I took a deep breath as I walked up to her desk and just stood there for a minute as she typed at a computer. When she finally noticed me, or stopped ignoring me, she looked at me above the top rims of her glasses.

"I'm so sorry for falling asleep Mrs. Witt it's just cause I haven't gotten much sleep these past few nights. It definitely won't happen again." I say and she nods.

"I know it won't. I'll let you off with a warning but you better take care of yourself- you can't take for granted the potential your grades give you." She says and I nod and walk away. To be honest Mrs Witt I'm just trying to survive at the current moment.

I walk out into the hall and quickly head into the nearest bathroom, which thankfully, is empty. I turn on the water in the sink and splash some on my face- just in case I try to nap in my salad.

I know what these dreams are, it's the time right before and right after my coma. I'll be running in the woods and then just fall down. When I wake up- I open my eyes to a bunch of confused doctors and nurses, who finally shout, "She's awake!". It feels so real, that when I wake up I can't go back to sleep again. I'm afraid that I won't wake up in time.

Jolting me out of my thoughts, I hear a sniffle coming from a bathroom stall, then another sniff, and then a muffled sob. I turn to look at the one bathroom stall that was occupied and lightly tapped of the door.

"Um, are you alright?" I ask and whoever behind the door laughs.

"No I'm not, but you can leave me alone!" She says and I recognize her voice. It's Martia, a girl in our classes.

I sigh and turn around to leave, "Alright but if you need anything..." I say and she huffs.

"Unless you can convince my boyfriend not to dump me just because Ulrich Stern came over and kissed me- then no." She says and I raise an eyebrow.

"Ulrich? Wait he kissed you!? Why?" I say and suddenly I feel like on of the girls who always gossip in the hallway. Ugh, well I should just ask Ulrich- he probably has a reason for it..

"He just came up and kissed me out of nowhere! And then he walked away! Nobody believes me though.." She mumbles miserably. To be honest it doesn't sound very reliable. She walks out of the bathroom stall and heads over to the mirror, washing her face.

"Okay well I gotta go, but good luck with that!" I say and run out the bathroom and down the halls. I finally make it to lunch and grab some random choices before sitting down at the table next to Aelita.

I yawn and put my head in my hands again before looking around at everyone. For some reason no one is talking, this wouldn't have anything to do with what that girl said would it...?

"Hey, what's up?" I ask and Yumi shrugs. I raise an eyebrow and open my bottle of apple juice. "Okay." I take a long drink of it. For a while we just sit in silence and finally I finish my juice and stand up. "Well, I'm gonna crash for the remainder of lunch so if you nee me I'll be in our dorm." I say and walk away. I guiltily dump the uneaten food into the trash can and shoulder my bag.

I would stay and try to figure out what's going on but I'm so tired I can hardly stand it. Im she I'll be able to handle it better after a nap. A few seconds after I walk out of the cafeteria someone comes up behind me and taps me on the shoulder. I turn and see Milly with a big smile.

"Hi Astrid! You wanted to know about what happened right? We got the whole scoop- although don't you know what happened? You're apart of it." She says and I raise my eyebrows.

"huh? I don't know anything that's happened to be frank..." I murmur and Milly nods like she expected it.

"Everybody's denying it- but everyone saw it. Ulrich kissed this girl Martia, Jeremy kissed Haidi- who Odd's had a crush on for a while-, Yumi kissed SIssy- that caused more than one reasons for confusion by the way, and even though you know- you kissed William." She lists off and for a moment I'm so stuck on the 'Odd's crush on Haidi' thing that I didn't realize she's said I kissed William.

"Excuse me!? I didn't kiss Wiliam!" I exclaim and start to think it must be some weird crazy gossip that somebody like Sissy spread. Then I remember what Martia said in the bathroom. Her boyfriend was going to break up with her because of this.

"That's the thing, everybody says they didn't do it- but someone or another saw each person do it. Of course so did the people who were kissed" Milly says and I put a hand to my forehead, trying to ward off an oncoming headache.

"Alright, that's peachy Milly. Thanks for the news." I mutter and give her a small smile before walking away. We haven't had any Xana attacks for a while- and if a tower was activated wouldn't we already be going to the factory?

When I get up to my room I collapse on the bed and bury my face in the pillow. This is all so complicated, if there's no tower then is everybody lying? The thing is I didn't kiss William- and frankly if the others say they didn't I believe them too.

A small beep catches my attention and I pull out my phone from my pocket. I gasp when I see the number, and reach for a small half torn index card I kept on my dresser. Yep, the number is the same- it's Eric.

"Hello?" I ask hesitantly into the phone.

"Hey Astrid! It's me Eric. I wanted to check up on how you were. You know your group." He says and I bit my lip.

"Hi Eric. There's been some confusion to be honest- but it's just regular drama. Nothing really important. How are you?" I ask and he pauses before saying something

"Wow, I would've though you guys would've been closer than that. Don't you have to trust each other if you face Xana everyday?"

"It's not as simple as that. Jeremy hasn't even said anything about an activated tower and Xana has been absent for a while anyway.."

"You trust that? I mean the last time I met Jeremy he kept something from you. Not to rag on the guy but everybody makes mistakes. If there's something wrong- wouldn't you want to double check it's not Xana?" He says and I stare at my ceiling, lying on my bed.

"You're right." I say with a sigh. "I'm sorry, we'll have to talk later. For now I have to get to the bottom of this." He chuckles and then clears his throat.

"Alright, talk to you late Astrid." He says and I smile. After I hand up I stand up quickly from lying down and immediately grab my dresser. For a few moments I wobble- dissy and disoriented. When I finally regain my composer I shake my head and walk out of the dorm.

I run down the halls and wonder if I can get to the factory and back in time for my next class. Definitly not. I turn the corner and slam on the brakes to avoid running into someone.

"Woah Astrid. Slow down, what's wrong?" He asks and I waved for a moment deciding if I should ask him if he wants to come with me or not. No, he has his own problems catching up with school and all.

"Nothing William! I've gotta be somewhere so please excuse me." I say but before I start going again he grabs my elbow and pulls me back. For a second I just stare at him wondering if he'll ask me about the 'kiss' before he leans in and kisses me himself. I pull away immediately and put the back of my hand over my lips.

"What the hell William!" I scream and shake my head, there's no way real life William would do that. Before William can walk away I pull out my phone and call him. My stomach sinks as it starts ringing but I hear no buzz or ringtone from him.

"Hello, Astrid? Is this about you kissing me earlier?" The voice over the phone immediately says and the look in the William's eyes in front of me grow darker and darker.

"Please- tell Jeremy there's an activated tower. I have to go." I swallow and take a step back from 'William'.

"Astrid!? What's going on!? Are you alright!" Spector William grabs the phone from my hand and throws it against the wall.

"Oi, I liked that model." I growl and ball up my fists. I can do this- right? Yeah totally, I'm tough as can be..

"Come on..I don't want to hurt you.." Williams voice suddenly shifted..even though it was computerized and distorted, I recognize it. William's shape shifts and turns into a man roughly in his early twenties.

He has dusty brown hair and blue eyes, long eyelashes and hair that goes a little past his ears. He's wearing a black windbreaker and with a worn Legend of Zelda shirt. His jeans are old and ratty- holes popping up every few inches, and his shoes are pristine. "Come with me to Lyoko." He says and I widen my eyes.

"Stop..stop playing with me." My voice cracks and he holds out his left wrist. The memory pops up as I see the crudely drawn red heart on it. Everyday before he left I would redraw it to make sure that even if he got lost in his work, he would "eventually look at it and be reminded he had a sister to return to. When he died in accident..I made the wooden heart to remember him, and when I fell in love with Alex- I gave it to him.

"I'm not playing..you know who I am.. We have to talk." He says and smiles in that 'what can you do' way he would always give me when he return late. Is this some kind of joke!? Yes..yes a joke.

"No.." I squeeze my eyes shut and wrap my arms around my torso. How could you do this to me!?

"Astrid!" I open my eyes as a new voice calls out my name. I turn to see William tuning down the hallway. He snags a broom from a janitor cart that was sitting absent of janitor. He slides informer of me and holds it up. "Leave her alone Xana!"

"Ah, hello again." Danny/Xana says. His smile grows unfamiliar with an maleficent glint to them. William sneers and looks at him with true hatred. "You used to work for me willingly..so loyal..where has that gone?"

William then spoke a few choice words about where exactly his loyalty for him had gone and I cringe. A+ for creativity but geeze..

"Did you tell Jeremy?" I ask and William looks confused for a second- like he remember something he was supposed to do.

"I was worried about you." He says and I sigh. If I wasn't so shell shocked at the moment I might've acted like a regular teenager and squealed or something. Unfortunately, I'm not a regular teenager.

"Astrid, I have to go- but I hope we'll talk again soon." Danny/Xana says and his form changes and shifts again. Back again is the spector William. He smiles evilly and I feel my heart break. Part of me feels relieved that he's gone, but the rest of my is distraught.

"What did he mean?" William asks and I shake my head.

"Later..for now we have to find Jeremy." I mutter and William looks at me with his ignorantly innocent eyes. Oh sure at first he looks like he could be dangerous- some type of typical bad boy- but underneath he's such a softy.

The spector attacks William and he hits it away with his broom sword. We take off down the hallways and burst outside. Just as I open the door I see a flash of pink pass and run into the forest. At the same time I turn back around and see the spector is gone.

Along with William.

"Oh come on!" I yell shrilly and stomp my foot. This is so frustrating! Why are there so many things to do? After a second I turn and decide to head for Jeremy's room. William can handle himself...right?

* * *

Odd's POV

I stand up from the lunch table and think about following after Astrid, but sit down after remembering clearly her kissing Willaim. Yeah yeah, I'm being childish but so what? Truth is I'm way too annoyed with it. So what I like her- we aren't dating or anything.

She can kiss whatever she wants. If she likes William than who cares- I just wish she would've told me the truth before skipping going to lunch just to smooch with him. Whatever, I'll get over her I'm sure. Then I can date anybody else...who cares about one girl anyway?

Still I tap my fingers on the table and glate at my three quarters finished potatoes. The more I think about- argh the more angry I get!

"Hey Yumi- there's a gay couple meeting in the trash bin over there! Why don't you go join!" Sissy calls to our table as she walks by and Yumi gives her a look that make my glares look pouty.

"Shut up!" Ulrich yells and Yumi sniffs, turning to look out the window.

"This is so messed up! Can those girls get anymore obnoxious! I'm not, but I have a cousin who's Lesbian- and she's amazing!" Yumi mutters twisting her fork through her strawberries. I snort. Of course, she just like everyone else claims that they didn't actually kiss the person they kissed.

Ulrich didn't kiss Martia, Jeremy didn't kiss Haidi, and Yumi didn't kiss Sissy. Of course even though Astrid didn't say it she acted like nothing happened. The thing is, Ulrich did kiss Martia, Jeremy did kiss Haidi, Yumi did kiss Sissy, and Astrid did kiss William.

Finally I stand up and take my tray to the trash can. I dump the remaining food and plant the tray on a stack. Then, like a jerk, I walk out and kick rocks around at the corner of the cafeteria and a school building.

Forget about her, she likes William huh? She probably just said yes to the dance out of pity. Even so, she really did act like she knew nothing when she came in. In fact everyone did.

I pull out my phone to call her, but it immediately goes to voicemail. I sigh and shove it back in my pocket. How did I fall for such a complicated girl in the first place? I could've picked any of the other girls I tried to date- to get serious about, but it had to be Astrid. Her silver hair is gorgeous, and her eyelashes sparkle in the moonlight.

She may think her eyes are simply grey but inside them I see so many different things. Different shapes and squirls- they're unlike anything I've seen before.

"Odd, you're gonna get in trouble if you keep kicking the rocks around everywhere." Yumi says walking up to me, behind her is a reluctant looking Ulrich.

"Yeah?" I mumble and she sighs, kicking Ulrich in the ankle.

"Look man, we should work this out. We have enough to do with out this mess." He says and I laugh bitterly. Then again I remember Astrid's face as she looked around at us, waiting for someone to say something. Someone to explain why every was angry and silent. Then with Yumi, Ulrich, and Jeremy's too. They acted like they didn't know anything but..

"Hey I saw you kiss Martia." I say and he nods.

"And I saw Yumi kiss Sissy" He says exasperatedly

"And me and Aelita saw Jeremy kiss Haidi, and you saw Astrid kiss William. But nobody admits it. Don't you think we're all honest enough to own up to it if we didn't do it?" Yumi speculates and reluctantly I nod.

"So then what do you suggest?" I ask and she shrugs. I groan and then hear my phone ring. I open it up and kick another rock. "It's Jeremy...Hello?"

"Odd there's an activated tower- get everyone to meet in the forest, call William too." He hung up right after and I look at Yumi and Ulrich.

"Lady and Gent, duty calls."

* * *

Aelita's POV

Jeremy kisses me and then smiles, "Let's go deactivate the tower!" He says and leads me out of the building. At first I was so hurt that he was angry at me, but then he came to get me. Then again- something does seem strange. After lunch he went back to his, and then I followed after searching something for class on my laptop. When I got there he was spouting nonsense about me kissing Nicholas, which I didn't do.

I ran out and went to the hermatage, to calm down. Just now he found me and explained it was all the work of Xana. Now here we are. As soon as we get outside though, I start to wonder. He never kisses randomly like that, why would he start now? Got caught up in the moment maybe?

When we get outside I gasp upon seeing another Jeremy together with Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi. On the other side of the house is Astrid and William. THe two groups arrive at the same time- as if in sync with each other.

"Aelita! That's a clone!" Astrid calls out to me and I turn to the Jeremy holding my hand. He shakes his head and points to the one by Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi.

"That's the clone! What are you doing with it?" He says and I take a step away from him. Looking between him and the other Jeremy.

"Aelita it's me! That's a polymorphic clone that can change at will!" The other Jeremy says and the others start whispering. Jeremy..he wouldn't have kissed me.

"It's me, I kissed you!"

"I know, and that's how I know you're the clone!" I say and triumphantly and he growls, then he pushes me down the steps. I squeal and the raft flies around me. Then suddenly I'm on he ground, but my fall is cushioned by something. Underneath me I see a blue sweater and a pair of legs.

I quickly scramble up, and wince when I see both Jeremy and Astrid had dived to catch my fall. I helped them up and the others attacked to clone. For a second the two of them share a look, and then get back to business. I wonder what that was..

"Aelita are you okay?" Jeremy asks and Odd walks up to Astrid.

"Uhuh..so we have a tower to get rid of? Let's hurry- I know a shortcut." I say and we run down the secret passage that lies on the right side of the house.

* * *

Astrid's POV

My arms and legs were a little scraped from diving for Aelita- but I don't care. In that moment all that mattered was making sure she wasn't hurt. We ran through the tunnels, Ulrich, Yumi, William, Jeremy, Aelita, and I. Odd stayed back to fight the clone.

Just before we left Odd took my hands and stare at me delicately. I had held my breath, but my mind was still somewhere else. I kept repeating in my head, it was a joke. It's not true. Danny's not Xana. It was a joke. He's not him. He wouldn't..Danny never had that look in his eyes.

"Astrid are you alright? You look pale." William says to me and places a hand on my forehead. I jolt away from him out of surprise and he widens his eyes. We're waiting on the others to climb up the latter, we don't know how many that thing can hold at one time.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something." I murmur and he laughs.

"You're always doing that, anyway don't get sick or anything. Your forehead was really hot." He says and I touch it apprehensively. I haven't slept well, nor eaten well lately. William turned to climb up the ladder and I followed soon after.

Soon we're in the factory and I'm wondering why William would care if I was sick. We haven't known each other that long anyway... Jeremy tells William to stay with him, and even though he doesn't look like he likes it, he does. If Xana were to get a hold of him again...well at least we have a program for that. Still it's always better to be cautious.

I step into a scanner and take a deep breath. If I go in now, could I meet Xana? Will Danny be behind the mask? The door closes and for the second I'm standing ther I put my hands on the walls to stop from sinking to the ground, I feel sick.

"Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Astrid. Virtualization."

I'm lifted in the air and then drop down on lyoko a surface- my nausea and fatigue fading instantly. Danny..are you really here? This time, for sure, I have to find out!

* * *

**I'm not sure how exciting or good this one was compared other chapters but I was kinda rushed. What did you think of Danny? We're getting there and when we do it's gonna be awesome, I promise. Next chapter will Definitly be more exciting, I promise. Thanks for reading everyone- and have a good day!**


	13. Chapter 13

_How could you!? You abandoned me for what?_

_You did this, and I trusted you! I trusted you with all my heart. _

_Look where it got me._

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**Here we go again! I deeply apologize for leaving you all stranded for...how long has it been? Too long, that's for sure. This chapter had a lot of complications in it. I was dodging bullets trying to keep the potential plot holes away. Shoo I say, shoo! Plot holes are the worst kinds of pest, harder than cockroaches to kill. (What am I doing going off like this!? XD Well it's been a long week, please excuse my jokes)**

**To **Ayami55 **Thank you so much! I'm really glad you liked it cause I'm having a lot of fun coming up with his character. They'll definite be some dramatic drama with him and Astrid in the future! Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chowder as well!**

**To **Suicide Forest **Thank you very much for the support! I hope to keep awe levels rising at a steady level from her on out! XD You really cheered me up with that review, so I hope this cheater cheers you up too!**

**Anywho, the holidays are coming up soon so I should be able to get some more chapters out, of course that's after exams! Yeah, the stress just keeps coming. Aside from that I hope you enjoy this chapter, I've been super excited to get it out! 3**

**By the way this one was only kinda sorta heckled for grammatical errors so please bear with me! Thank you!**

* * *

Odd's POV

I run at the clone and not surprisingly my kick goes right through it as it changed forms. I roll my eyes wait for it to finish so I can club it again. Once it finsihes, picking Jim as its preferred form, I take another run at it

Take two also did not work out particularly in my favor.

I get smashed against the wall of the stairs and lay there for a second. Come on, haven't I done this plenty of times with actual people? The clone lifts me up by the collar and I groan- kicking it in the stomach to get it off me.

"Frankly, I'm surprised you're even brokering with me. Soon this whole thing will be over and you're stuck here in a tango with me!" I say and dodge as clone Jim tries to brain me with his fist. "Oops, too slow"

I sweep my legs around after ducking and try to kick his out if the way. Once again my feet fly right through him as he switches forms. I scramble way and stand up a few feet away from him.

When he comes out he's some weird man that I've never seen before. However, he does have a legend of Zelda t-shirt which I totally respect.

"Odd Della Robbia. I let my minions dabble with you not because I have to but because I want them to. For now I have a warning- I do not wish someone of your low standard to be near Astrid, much less having affairs with her. Stay away for her, or the next time I visit will be your demise." He says threateningly and the the clone starts changing again.

I clench my jaw and hold back a curse. You think I don't know that Astrid is way out of my league? I can't ever make her love me by looks or smarts, I'm clever in a fight but I don't have much. But I can't lose her just because some jerk tries to tell me I'm not good enough.

Wait a sec, did some guy just tell me I'm not good enough!? Did _Xana_ just tell me I'm not good enough!? Was that scrubby dude supposed to be Xana!? No, that's definitely not what just happened.

"Hey next time can you instead change into a really wimpy kid?" I say and it finishes out looking like me. "Gee, not him. I know his type, and he doesn't give up without a fight." I say and glare at it. Even so, the way that guy was speaking sounded too authoritative. But there's no way it was Xana, like the thing trying to take over the world would show up dressed like some hippy.

I grab the clones arm and flip it onto it's back. Then I pull and slam it against the wall of the stairs like I did me. It lies there for a few seconds and I laugh.

"Too easy." I mutter. If that really was Xana.. No there's no way. Just like Aelita he can't get out of the super computer. Unless he's already found out how to. Then again Xana would already be attacking the rest of the world if that was so.

I turn around and clench my fist, even if it was or wasn't- why was he so interested in Astrid? What's that guys deal anyway? Why is he so hung up on her? Suddenly I feel something heavy hit the back of my neck and the last thoughts I have before falling to the ground are, 'Doesn't go down without a fight.'

My world went black and I dreamed that I kept trying to beat the Xana clone man on Zelda, but he kept beating me. When I finally open my eyes again, the sun shines brightly through the leaves, making me squint. For a second I'm not sure what's happening- but then I bolt up.

"Ahh!" I check around to make sure I wasn't trapped in a drain or anything like that. Then I scramble up and rub my eyes. Shit! That dumb clone actually took me out didn't it? "Not for long." I mutter and run to down the sewage tunnels.

Whats happening to everyone? What if something awful is going on, and I'm waking up from a nap. A sinking feeling in my stomach tells me I might be right. My mind flashes to Astrid, what if she get hurt before I can tell her how I really feel?

I clench my jaw and climb up the sewage ladder and start to run inside the building before a flash of movement catches my eye. I turn quickly, thinking to see the Spector, but instead there's someone falling into the water that surrounds the factory like a mote.

No doubt about it, I recognize the silver hair and shocked I shout, "Astrid!?" I look around for a place to climb down but see no simple or quick way. Geeze, how the heck did this happen anyway?

I dump the contents of my pockets on the bridge and jump off, canonball-ing into the water. OH it's cold. I swim over to Astrid and dive into the water to search for her. I grab her waist and kick my legs, shooting the both of us up. When we break the surface I suck in air and pull her to a patch of grass on the factory's island. Once we're both up she gasps and coughs watee from her lungs.

"Astrid!? Are you alright, what happened!?" I exclaim and she stares at me confused for a second. "Come on I'm not _that_ ugly when my hair's wet!"

"I'm sorry Odd, I didn't kiss William...that was a clone." She murmurs and I shake my heas. I know that and I was an idiot like everyone else for falling into Xana's scheme!

"Come on you have to be okay.." I say and she nods, lying her back and looking up at the sky. "Cloud gazing? Yeah my favorite hobby too, for now let's just focus on not joining them."

"I'll be..fine." She says and closes her eyes. I shake her shoulders to try to keep her awake.

"Hey hey stay awake! Astrid? Please open your eyes! Astrid!?"

* * *

Astrid's POV

*Earlier*

We landed in the forest sector and I immediately pulled out my bow, suspicious for anything. Yumi puts a hand in my shoulder and gives me a soothing look like, 'Calm down, it's just the usual'. Little does she know, my brother might be waiting for me somewhere in here.

He's also going to try to kill her, and everyone else here. Yeah- I've got family issues. Strangely though I do feel calmer in here. Before I thought my world would topple if my brother turned out to be behind all this. Now, I realize that I can get through it. Especially when my friends are on the line- I don't want them to be hurt anymore. I put my bow away for now and the four of us look around.

"So which way do we go Einstein?" Ulrich asks and then the vehicles appear. I smile at Odd's board and remember all the drama that happened earlier. He didn't say anything to me at lunch because he thought I kissed William, huh?

"South east, there's a path that curves a bit, but you should reach it easily. I don't see any of Xana's goons anywhere. Yet." Jeremy says and Ulrich jumps on the bike, Yumi and Aelita get on the overwing and I step on Odd's board. I wobble a bit, trying to get my balance, but eventually stabilize.

We head off to the tower, which turns out to be pretty simple. We don't meet any monsters until the tower is pretty close. However, once we do it we have some difficulties.

In front of the tower, blocking our way are three crabs, three hornets, and three tanks. The three of us charge a look and I pull out my bow.

"Aelita stay back and wait for us to finish okay?" Yumi says and she nods. I load and arrow and aim it at a hornet. It would've hit, but once I fired they scattered. I narrow my eyes and Ulrich shoots me a teasing look.

"Well than" I mutter and smile good humoredly. I load another arrow but this time I don't shoot at the hornets. I aim for the Xana mark on one of the tanks. Yumi and Ulrich run to start the fight and I fire. It hits the spot and explodes, ha.

"Astrid, you be careful too?" Jeremy says and I raise an eyebrow. Why would he tell me that. I look over and see Ulrich and Yumi share a look. Aelita shrugs but she seems as confused I am.

"Sure thing." I eventually say and then start running towards the rest of the tanks. I dodge it of the way of two of their weird force field attack, but get him in the side by two shots from the hornets.

After this I'll be able to discuss things with Danny. Maybe talk some sense into him.

"**Not now Astrid, you have to leave.**" A familiar voice says and after looking around I realize it's in my head. 'What do you mean, Danny? I'm here to talk!' I think and hope that's enough to communicate.

"**Not now.**" Is all it says and I bite back a curse.

'Dont think you can tell when I can and can't be here!' I fume inside my head and load another arrow in my bow. I aim it at another tank but I don't notice the crab coming up to me until too late.

"Astrid watch out!" Ulrich yells and I turn only to get hit by a crabs laser. First that one and then another one.

"**Do as I say, for once!**" Al of the monsters are focusing on me, there's no way, Ulrich and Yumi won't take most of them out, but I'm going to get pulverized.

'Let me stay' I yell inside my head again and then yell, "Dammit!" Out loud when I get devirtualize done by a tank. I would've strung lots more curses together if I hadn't been impeded by the devirtualization process.

The scanner door opens and I take a step out, holding onto the sides of it for support. What good am I in helping if I can't even fight some dumb monsters. He blocked me out for some reason, he devirtualized me on purpose.

I walk over to the elevator and push the button to go up, lending against the wall with a scowl on my face. It disappears when the doors open and I see William waiting for me.

"Hey you okay?" He asks and I nod, sighing.

"Just frustrated." I mutter and walk over to Jeremy. He nods to me and I study his face. Did he know something about that? The way he told me to be careful... "Sorry about that" I murmur as I turn away and decipher the screen.

Jeremy sighs and takes the mic away for a second. "What I said, I didn't think that you were incapable of anything. Everybody gets overwhelmed sometimes, it's normal. Thing is I couldn't survive a quarter of the time I lyoko as you did just then, trust me- I've tried." He says and I laugh. "Don't let this get you down," he finishes and I make a mental note of how kind Jeremy can be when he tries.

Often times he'll come off as harsh, but I think he just understands computers more then sentient life forms. "Thanks Jeremy." I say and he nods, putting the mic back in place.

Yumi takes out the hornets and Ukrich works on the tanks. The crabs advance on him, though, and I wonder if they'll be able to handle all of them. Before I can say anything the elevator door opens, and I turn to see Odd walking in.

"Hey? Where's the clone?" I ask and share a glance with William, realizing what it meant immediately after I said it. Odd would never leave the clone wandering around for it to attack random people or follow him here. And Aelita hasn't activated the tower yet.

"Aelita! Don't take risks like that!" Jeremy yells suddenly and I walk up behind his chair, standing infront of 'Odd'. I smile as William goes around to flank him. The clone seems to understand what's going on, and doesn't waste anytime pretending.

The clone runs at me but gets tackled by William before it reaches. William pushes him against the wall but is soon pushed back harder. He slides across the floor and the clone starts walking to Jeremy.

"Oh no you don't." I say and throw a punch. I the clone deflects it and for a minute we stand there sending and dodging hits. Then it does something I don't expect. It grabs my arms like it did that first day and sends electricity through them. I scream and the clone throws me aside. The world is a blur for a minute before I see Williams face above me.

"Hey Astrid, come on... ah! Welcome back." He says smiling and I immediately stand up. He grabs my shoulders to steady me as I stand up but that only makes me flinch hard. He lets go quickly and I steady myself against the wall.

(Real smooth, I know)

I look over to make sure Jeremy is alright, but to my surprise I find Ulrich and Yumi there too, staring at he screen. I walk over, my confusion and alertness growing.

"What happened!?" I ask and Yumi looks at me grim. How much did I miss?

"Ulrich and I got devirtualized. After Aellita deactivated the tower she left it for some reason and now..the schyphozoa has her. And we have no way to help her." She explain and I widen my eyes. I'm out for two second and this happens!?

Jeremy has his hands flying across the keyboard, trying to find something to solve this. On the screen is a diagram and percentage showing how much memory she has. It keeps dropping.

"If this goes on she'll...she'lll.." Jeremy breaks and off and I put a hand to my forehead, I go unconscious for five minutes and this happens? Odd can't go in, he's not here yet he'll never make it..but what can we do?

If only Xana/ Danny hadn't devirtualized me.

I suddenly feel a rush of energy, and the two points that's the clone touched on my arm start to heat up. I have to do something. Being part program has to give me something! Anything!?

Then, out of impulse, I put my hand on the side of the supercomputer.

"Astrid what are you doing?" Ulrich asks but I close my eyes. Imagine the feeling you get when you're virtualized. Your particles, your data, and your essence all being taken apart and put back together again you can do it.

I feel a pull in my gut before a feeling of weightlessness takes over. The voices of my friends disappear and think hard about the forest sector. The exact spot where the tower was.

After a few seconds I touch down on solid ground and open my eyes. I made it! I look down at myself- dressed in some weird armor. I shake my head and look around, immediately spotting Aelita trapped in the schyphozoa clutches.

My instancts take over and I reach behind me and grab the handle of something. I walk over to the schyphozoa and pull out a scythe with weird snaking blue tendrils on it. In one slice I cleave the tentacles in half. Aelita drops and I swing wide, advancing further on the schyphozoa. It disappears and I narrow my eyes, serves that right.

I turn around to look at Aelita but she's already being materialized by Jeremy. For a second I smile, happy that she's safe- but then a lock of hair falls infront of my face, and my smile melts. It's brown and curly. I drop the scythe and look down at myself.

At first, this seemed so normal, like it was something I'd forgotten. Wait, what did I actually just do? I virtualization myself here without using the scanners, that shouldn't be possible.

"**Actually, I helped a bit**." A voice says and I turn to see a glowing silhouette of a person. Danny. "**I'm a little disappointed though, I was so close to getting what I wanted.**"

"What is this?" I exclaim gesturing to myself and the blade. "How did I do that?" Danny chuckles and I widen my eyes in disbelief. This is funny to him? He abruptly stops laughing and reaches a glowing arm out.

"**I'm sorry, that was rude of me. It's just another part of the puzzle you've forgotten. I can explain it all at my home- if you would come with me.**" He says and takes a step towards me, I back up and shake my head.

"I dont understand! What else is there that I don't remember!?" I scream frustrated and afraid. I hold my arms to my chest and clench my hand to keep them form shaking. I suppose that's the essence of forgetting something, but I'm so sick of it.

The glowing figure keeps waking toward me, and I keep walking back- until I hit the edge of the ground. All that's behind me is the digital sea. The figure keeps approaching and I feel my breathing escalate. I just want to feel normal, feel safe and happy with my friends. I don't want weird and unexpected things to keep throwing in road blocks.

"**Please forgive me, we'll arrive quickly this way.**" The figure speaks and I realize what he's going to do. The hand that's reached out pushes me back and I fall headfirst towards the digital sea.

Time slows down, if I got myself in here then maybe I can get myself out. Out, I want out! I brace myself to hit the sea but I never do. I open my eyes when I realize I'm not falling anymore but only see white, and I wonder if I've died, that's what happens when you hit the digital sea..right?

Still I don't feel dead. I close my eyes and focus on someplace to land. I might still be falling, so how about water? There's water outside the factory so.. I imagine the small lake that acts as a moat for the factory.

I close my eyes again and once again I feel myself falling. This time, however, I hit the water. It's cold and dark, and even though my first thought is to start swimming I can't make myself move.

I'll drown! Even so, as if what I just accomplished drained everything from me, I can hardly feel my legs. If this is how I go, at least Aelita's alright. I was able to do something..

Out of nowhere, someone grabs my waist and pulls me up. My head breaks the surface and I take a deep breath- not noticing till that moment that I'd ran out. I'm laid down on grass and after coughing up some water I open my eyes.

Odd's face appears before me, huh? Odd? If you're here then..I actually managed to devirtualize myself too. If I hadn't, who knows what Xana would've done with me, perhaps he would've just killed me. I would've never been able to see Odd again. I wouldn't be able to say sorry...

"I'm sorry Odd, I didn't kiss William...that was a clone." I murmur and close my eyes slightly because of the glare of the sun. I'm so tired...but I need to figure out what just happened...maybe...after a nap..

"Come on you have to be okay.." Odd says desperately and I nod, for now though...I look up at the sky and wonder how I never noticed that the clouds are so beautiful around the edges of it.

Odd says something that I don't hear, but I can feel a smile forming on my lips.

"I'll be..fine." I say and close my eyes, sinking into sleep. The last thing I know is Odd shaking my shoulders and calling out my name, but I can't bring myself to resurface to it. For a while I float around in blissful rest, but then my state changes.

Then I start to _dream_. I start to _remember_.

* * *

Yumi's POV

"What about Astrid!? What happened to her!?" I demand to know, squeezing Jeremy's shoulders. He stares at the screen, having just materialized Aelita. We were all surprised, Astrid just suddenly gave off a big flash of light and was gone. A second later Jeremy saw a new figure on the screen, but it had no name.

"I don't know Okay!? There's something wrong going on..the screen is messing up its lIke it's bugged!" He says frustrated and conflicted. He's worried about Astrid but relived about Aelita and is stressed because all of this is happening too quickly for even him to handle.

Or me, to be honest.

"I'll find Odd, maybe he can go in and help sort it out here." William says and runs into the elevator. Jeremy sighs, and I shake my head, I let William go but I know we can't let Odd go in with these circumstances.

"I'll check on Aelita." I say and Ulrich stays with Jeremy, watching over his shoulder with a scowl on his face that just means he feels as useless and worried as me. I hurry down the ladder and meet Aelita there.

"Yumi!" She runs up to me and I wrap her in a huge hug.

"Hey, are you alright?" I ask and she nods.

"I'm fine but what about Astrid? I hardly recognized her because when was on lyoko she had different outfit. Like Odd is a cat, Ulrich's a samurai, you're in a kimono, and Astrid is an Eskimo. Well this time she had something else on, and she didn't have a bow she had a scythe." Aelita says all too quickly as she pulls away from the hug. Her eyes are wide and she looks frightened.

"That's..well she didn't go in the conventional way, she virtualized herself...or something like that." I say and start to climb up the ladder. Aelita follows and as soon as we're up we walk over to Jeremy and Ulrich.

"She's going to fall." He says quietly and I while my head around to face him.

"What?!"

"There some exchange going on between her and someone else, and from the stats I'm getting on the screen..I think it might be Xana..or some kind of separate Spector he's using." Jeremy mutters and I grip the side of his chair with my hand.

"Yes but what about the falling!?" I say and he shakes his head.

"He's pushing her back to the edge of the ground there, I can't hear anything they're saying- it's like there's static blocking it, but I don't think Xana is just there to chat." Jeremy says and I share a look with Ulrich. You're kidding, so all along did it have to be one of them? Astrid or Aelita?

"There has to be something we can do-" I say but Jeremy cuts me off.

"Unless one of you can do what she did then no, I can't do anything to her- I can't materislize her or contact her- nothing." He says, defeated. I let go of the seat and we watch the screen.

Even though I have a hard time telling what exactly is going on, I can tell when she fall off. I scream her name and watch as the little dot that represents her falls, falls, and finally dissapears.

"That's it's!? That can't be it!?" Ulrich says and I look at Jeremy. Aelita puts her hand on his shoulder comfortingly, even though she looks like she's going to cry.

"She didn't fall in..I don't understand..." Jeremy mumbles and starts typing new things. I put a hand to my head and try to understand what he's saying.

"So she's alive?" I ask and he shrugs.

"I don't know! I don't know! And for your next question, I don't know! The only thing I do know is that her data wasn't erased, her human signature at least. But she's not on lyoko anymore...as far as I can tell." He says and I shake my head.

"This can't be happening!" I murmur under my breath and then look around- we're all just standing here, doing nothing. "Isn't there anything we can do?" I ask and Aelita sniffles, I turn and see her blinking back tears- trying to stay strong.

I'm not helping her, I'm freaking out and being unstable and that's freaking her out even more. I place a arm around her shoulder to comfort her and she buries her head in mine. Jeremy looks like he's about to throw up and Ulrich is right along with him.

He opens his mouth to say something but the ring of my phone from my pockets echoes in the silent room. Aelita pulls away and I pull it out and answer.

"Yumi, I'm just outside the factory right now, what happened? Astrid somehow ended up out here- Odd says she fell into the water." I let out a huge breath of air when I hear he found her and hurry to the elevator.

"Okay William I'll be there soon." I say and gesture to the others after I hang up. "They found her outside, somehow." I explain and Aelita hurries over. Jeremy and Ulrich join us right befor the door closes and we have a tense ride up.

"Do you think she devirtualized herself too?" Ulrich asks and Jeremy shrugs.

"It would make sense though, if she did it herself we're lucky she landed over water." He says and we find a door to the outside and spot William, Odd, and Astrid near the bridge.

I run up to them and look back and forth between the boys.

"So, what happened?" Odd and Ulrich ask at the same time. Odd and Astrid are both soaked, and Astrid has Williams jacket over her- but her eyes are closed.

"Aelita was being attacked by the Scyphozoa, but no one could go in. You weren't here and didn't answer you're cellphone. So, Astrid did this weird thing, she virtualized herself without using the scanners. " Ulrich explains and I bend down to put a hand on her forehead. I pull bit away and shake my head, it's on fire. "Then, she helped Aelita and materialized herself."

"When I ran by here she just dropped from the sky into the water. I guess this is where she ended up?" Odd says and we all look around at each other. He kneels on the other side of Astrid and checks her pulse and breathing.

"Hopsital!" Ulrich, Odd, and I all say at the same time.

How could we let this happen? We're supposed to be trained for this stuff, if we hadn't let Aelita get stranded...Astrid wouldn't be hurt now. William puts a hand on my shoulder and gives me a look. As if he knows what I'm thinking and is trying to cheer me up.

I search his eyes to see if there is a deeper meaning behind him. I remember dancing with Ulrich, and seeing William walk out of the dance for a while. I've hurt him a lot, because even though I know how he feels I still feel for Ulrich. Even so, he stays by my side and comforts me like this.

He walks past me and, to the annoyance of Odd in particular, picks up Astrid like she weighs nothing. He starts walking up the hill and back into the factory, and the rest of us follow closely after him. Jeremy dials up an emergency number and I feel another hand brush my arm, this one sends tingles up my skin, though.

"She'll be alright ya know." Ulrich says and I nod.

"All of us would've done the same for Aelita," I point out as we walk out of the factory and onto the bring. Jeremy hangs up the phone and tells us we'll meet an ambulance a block from here, past the abandoned neighborhood next to the factory.

"If all of us could virtualize and materialize ourselves, that would make everything easier." Ulrich says and I tilt my head. Yeah but at what cost? We don't even know what happened to her when she did that. She could be...in big trouble.

"She'll be fine." I say with stubborn determination. Over my dead body will I let her go so easily! I stare at her with worry for her glistening in my eyes. She better be okay, or I'm kicking Xana's ass, promptly.

* * *

**Heyo! Well here it is! I hope that wasn't too much thrown at ya in one go? Honestly there's so much more I thought could happen, but I'll save it for later. I hope you guys enjoyed this one and have a nice day!**


	14. Chapter 14

_I won't let you go. I won't let them hurt you, the way they hurt me._

_This world is full of many evils, but here with you is the place filled with the most good._

_Let me protect you, the way you protect me._

* * *

**Okay, let's just say I got a tad carried away in this chapter. Not a lot of romance or anything but I swear that's coming up like immediately after this part ends. I'm actually super excited for it but wow was this chapter fun to write. Actually I wrote the first little bit about Astrid's dream several weeks ago and I finally came back to this. Yeah...exams are a bitch huh?**

**DON'T WORRY! We're still going strong with this one! Sorry about the hiatus, I hope we can get things rolling again pretty smoothly. But uh...about this chapter again...yeah...don't hate me? Come on you don't honestly think I'd kill off the main character *laughs nervously*...*looks over at several series that made me cry too much* Yeha I'm talking about you MR.- nope no spoilers here! Those of you who have read/played/watched something where the main character dies at the end, it's alright. **

**They're always alive in our hearts...Anywho...**

**I really hope you enjoy this one! I'm super excited to get working on this again as it's my favorite fic of mine!**

* * *

Astrids POV

I'm dreaming. Where am I? My feet fly across the forest floor, the only thing I can remember is Alex. That's it right? I'm going to Alex? I'm trying to find him for just another midnight meeting or something.

Suddenly, as if the lights just turn off, I fall limp to the ground. Twigs, leaves, and dirt crowd around my face and I slip away from the dream.

I open my eyes again, but this time I'm standing beneath the treehouse behind the orphanage, why am I here? I look around and spot someone who makes my heart clench, Alex.

"What's going on?" I hear the sound of my own voice even though my lips never moved and I didn't say it myself. Alex takes a few steps towards me and holds out his hand.

"They can help you, Jane told us what you are. Maybe with them..." He says and I feel betrayal ebb from his words. I shake my head.

"No..no they're wrong! They're wrong about me! I would never hurt anyone!" My voice tells him but I can see disbelief in his eyes. "You don't trust me"

"It's not you I don't trust, it's everyone else." He says, everyone else? Does that mean that I can be..manipulated? I look past him and see car lights in the background of the neighborhood.

"They're using you to get me to cooperate, aren't they? You're being played by the very people who would use me!" Suddenly I remember what happens next. I see the lights grow in the background and turn and run into the forest behind the orphanage.

"Astrid!" Alex calls after me and I turn to see him following me. No! Stay away! I fling a hand back and feel a strange kind of energy flow fom my fingertips. What is this?

The energy sends me flying and I land in a pile of fallen branches and cobwebs. I jump up quickly and turn to run, dashing through the forest in an all too familiar way. My feet fly across the forest floor, and the truth dawns on me quickly.

I was never running to Alex. All this time I thought it was just a normal day, but it wasn't. I was running away from him. From the one I thought I loved.

I ran away...

because he betrayed me!

* * *

Aelita's POV

Odd and I walk into the hospital and I wave to the lady at the counter. Astrid was asleep for two days, and an hour ago she called us to tell us she woke up. Odd and I got out of class to go see her and bring her back to school.

"She'll be out in a few minutes, you two don't have to go in." The secretary says and Odd shrugs.

"So she was discharged already?" I asked surprised. The lady leans in to whisper to me.

"Oh I heard it's cause they thought she had gone into another coma. Since they can't do anything for her, her father and the doctors want to spend as much time as she can doing things. Ya know like school. They probably think she'll be in and out of comas all her life." She says and I share a look with Odd.

"You know a lot" Odd comments and she shrugs. I raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah well a woman came in to ask about her, so I got the scoop for her. You two seem like you know her better though." The secretary shrugs again and I frown.

"What was the woman's name?" I ask and the secretary thinks about it for a second.

"Something like Jane I think. Know her?" I shake my head and turn to see Odd walking away from the desk. Astrid walks out of an elevator and waves when she sees us. I smile and walk over behind Odd.

"Odd!" She says and looks at him nervously for a second. He hugs her and they share a whispered conversation before I reach them.

"You scared us so much!" I say and hug her too. She smiles sheepishly.

"Let's go, no need to keep the others waiting." Odd says and Astrid nods. We walk out of the hospital and wait at a bus stop.

"What have I missed?" She asks and I shrug.

"Not much, Ulrich and Jeremy got detention for talking in class." I say giggling and she shakes her head. "We're working on a way to go past Lyoko, we think it's through the digital sea. We're going to make something like a deep sea submarine, to protect against the digital sea destroying our codes like submarines protect against pressure." I explain and she nods.

"Geeze, you miss two days..." She says jokingly as we get on the bus. Astrid and I get in one seat and Odd sits across from us. I notice Astrid smile at Odd and him give her a grin back. Hmm, I wonder if she feels the same for Odd as I do for Jeremy? Then Astrid suddenly looks up to the front of the bus. Two men in suits get on and Astrid narrows her eyes.

"Did anything happen at the hospital?" She asks and I share a look with Odd.

"Apparently that woman Jane came to ask about you." Odd says and Astrid suddenly stands up and looks around. She stops when her eyes hit something at the back of the bus. She widens her eyes and looks back at the men in the front.

"I did come, but relax- it's not you I want right now." A woman saysas she stands up and Odd and I stand up to see Jane in the back of the bus. She looks at me and smiles welcomingly, but behind it I can see a dangerous look in her eyes. Astrid tenses and the rest of the people on the bus stand up. I glance to Astrid to see her clenching her jaw. "I want your friends."

"As fun as that sounds, I believe kidnapping is illegal." Odd says with a light tone and I cut him a glance.

Suddenly I remember when the men took my mom away, and hold back a scream. No! What does she want from us? Astrid moves and grabs my arm to push me into the seat with Odd, then blocks it off with herself. He tries to open the window and a few of the people who stood up pull out guns. He stops and Jane raises her hand.

"Don't shoot the boy or pinky, but if any of them make a move you can shoot the white haired girl." She says moves her hand. "Step away from them, now Astrid."

Astrid glares at her and opens her mouth to say something but I push her into the seat opposite to us. She looks me surprised, but I can't let her be killed! I plead silently to her with desperate eyes and she seems to understand, because she bows her head. I look to the woman Jane and she grins like she thinks it's hilarious.

"Don't worry, if they survive the implantation you'll see them again." Jane says and walks over to us. The bus stops in an alley and she looks down at us. "Move. Now." She says and Odd squeezes my hand. I get off the seat and walk down the isle. I look back at Astrid who still has guns aimed at her and quickly move off the bus. I grab Odd's arm when the two men in suits flank us and push us to go further into the alleyway.

Panic flares inside me and I look at Odd for help but he just pushes me behind him. Jane is still on the bus, but the men keep pushing us farther away from it. What is she doing? A door opens behind us and in the dirty brown alleyway is an open door that leads into a pristine white hallway. 'If they survive the implantation'. I push down my fear and glare at the people in the hallway. They have lab coats on them, but underneath are ordinary clothes.

Jane walks off the bus and meets us at the door. "Take them to the holding rooms." She says and someone grabs my arm and pulls me and Odd into the hallway. As the doors close I widen my eyes as three gunshots ring throughout the area.

"Astrid!" Odd and I yell and fight against the people dragging us in. I wish I could use powers like I can on Lyoko, but this isn't Lyoko. It's real life, and in real life people don't devirtualize.

"Dammit!" Odd curses and one of the men in suits hits him on the back of the neck and he crumples.

They die.

"Astriiiiid!"

* * *

Ulrich's POV

"Shouldn't they be back by now?" Yumi says as we sit down at a lunch table. "They left an hour ago!" She sets her tray down but doesn't sit. "I'll be right back, I'm going to the bathroom." She says and walks away briskly, pulling out her phone.

"Maybe their stuck in traffic? Who knows, the hospital isn't that far away but we don't ever get trouble this soon after an attack." Jeremy says as William joins us. "There aren't any activated towers."

"That's what you said last time, and we all know how that went Einstein." I say jokingly and Jeremy rolls his eyes at me. Just as I bite into a roll an announcement goes through the intercoms of the school.

_'Will Ulrich Stern, Jeremy Belpois, and William Dunbar please report to the principle's office immediately.'_

"The hell?" William says and shrugs. If it was something with Odd, Astrid, or Aelita they would've called Yumi too, so what's going on?

"Ulrich, William." Jeremy says urgently and flashes us the laptop screen before closing it shut and standing up. Xana. "I'm going to leave for the factory before we get to the office, tell them I started throwing up or something." He says and I nod.

William and I walk down the hall, but just before we reach the front office somebody stops us. A woman in her thirties or so, she looks kinda familiar. I stop and look around, seeing two men in black suits with sunglasses block the hallway we came from. Suddenly I whip my head around and stare at the woman. I _do_ know her! She's the one who hurt Astrid, the one we saw at her dad's workplace!

"Hello boys. There are only three of you, where's Jeremy?" She asks and I narrow my eyes.

"Puking his guts out right now, but if you still want to see him we can get you hazmat suit." William says and I look past her, through a glass exit door, to see four fancy black cars, and Yumi being pushed inside one of them. I shove past the lady and run out to her, followed by William.

"Yumi!" I yell and she bangs on the door from the inside as the car drives off.

"Well, I'm glad you boys are so easily made to cooperate." Jane says and I grab William's sleeve.

"Jeremy." I whisper through clenched teeth and he nods and bolts. The two men start to run after him but the lady tells them to stop.

"He wasn't a plausible subject anyway, he isn't worth it." She says and turns to me. "You, on the other hand, are. So I'm afraid you're going to have to get in a car."

"What do you want from us?" I growl and look past into the school, hoping somebody there might notice and help him. Currently he could probably beat them in a fight, or at least put up one, but he doesn't want them to hurt Yumi.

"Unless you want that spunky little girl to get into some serious trouble." She says and leans closer to me and the two men grab my arms. "I suggest you shut up and get in the car."

* * *

William's POV

I make it to the sewer and go down it just to be safe. Then I pull out my phone to first call Jeremy.

"Jeremy! It wasn't a Xana attack. That lady, Jane, that did the experiment on Astrid came. She took Yumi away...I'm not sure what happened to Ulrich though." I say quickly and hear something I never thought would come from that dude's mouth. A curse.

"_Odd and Aelita didn't pick up their phones either, and I haven't checked Astrid. Come the end of the sewer and I'll meet you there." _Jeremy says and I hang up. I immediately call Astrid hurry down the tunnel. Just when I think she won't pick up her voice makes my skin crawl.

"_W-west side of town...alleyway off Perrowville street...hurry.."_ She says with a pained tone. I freeze and hear her labored breathing.

"Astrid! What happened? Where are you?" I demand looking back and forth both ways down the sewer. Should I keep going or turn around to find her?

"_I'll be fine...in a few minutes. D-don't get...taken away..."_ Something must've happened to Odd and Aelita...along with Yumi they were kidnapped by Jane!

_"_Where are you?" I say more urgently this time. Dammit don't do anything rash!

"_...I'll be fine...I'm almost at the factory._" She says and I turn around and run back the way I came. I practically leap off the ladder and look around in front of me.

"Are you in the forest?" I ask but a rustling behind me makes me turn. I see her barely standing, leaning against a tree, with three bloody holes in her. One in her right side, one in her shoulder, and one in her hand. She sees me and falls forward, and I drop my phone and run to catch her. "Astrid? Look just stay with me..."

* * *

Odd's POV

I slammed my fist against the door and yelled for someone to let me out. If Astrid is dead...if she's hurt... I take a deep breath and look around the small closet of a room they threw me in. All it has is a bed and a toilet. Charming, I know. They threw Aelita into one across the hall from me, eliminating my hope that I could at least protect her.

Astrid... The three gun shots repeat themselves in my head. What will I do if she dies? What will I do period? They want to do the same thing to us as they did to her. 'if they survive the implantation' if. Her brother didn't make it, sounds like at least a fifty-fifty, maybe worse.

Gee, that's a major big /if/ right there. Jane didn't take our cellphones, but they don't work down here anyway. Suddenly I glance to the toilet and get an idea. I saw the number of my room before they threw me in. I quickly grab my phone and text everyone in a group chat.

'Odd- room 36b/Aelita- directly across the hall' I send the text and kiss my phone once before dropping it in the toilet and then flush it. The noise is loud and I whistle innocently. Hopefully, even if a phone can't get far in a pipeline, it can get to somewhere so it has enough service to send that message.

I know, pure genius, Odd.

The door opens and I glare as Jane scrunches her nose at me. Behind her are the two big, bulky men. How many of those does she have?

"Where's Astrid?" I demand

"You actually used it?" She asks and I shrug. She briefly raises her eyebrows and gestures with her hand for me to come out.

"I'm not moving until you tell me about Astrid." I say and she rolls her eyes like it's me being unreasonable.

"If you must know, she got away. Don't worry about her too much, sure she'll be in pain but she can't die...at least not by anything like a bullet. Her program signature is tied to a collective database of some sorts. Her body could be ripped to pieces but her signature would still be there, so it would simply take a virtualization to recreate her body." Jane says and I widen my eyes. "To be honest, I would be more worried about yourself right now."

I step out of the room and here banging coming from Aelita's room. One of the men grabs my forearm and I sneer at him.

"Wow, real tough guy. You should be grateful you have body guards or I would-" I start to say but she walks down the hall, the guards following.

"Yes, I'm sure you would." She says and I wrestle against the men as we go deeper into this creepy maze of hallways.

* * *

Astrid's POV

I screamed at the pain when several bullets hit me. One in my side, one in my hand, and one in my shoulder. I collapse against the seat and prepare to die, wondering when the movie of my life would start up. But I don't die, I just feel blood seeping from my wounds. I scream again and look up to see something...someone...taking out the people on the bus. I close my eyes and feel blackness fall around me, spotted with red blotches of searing pain.

I open my eyes and push myself up, out of the seat, only to fall back down in the isle. Someone picks me up and I scream when they touch the wounds. Then something flows into me and the pain eases, and I fall into something that loosely fits the definition of sleep. When I open my eyes again I see fuzzy bits of green and brown above me, trees. Something rings and I realize the noise is my phone.

How did I get here? I look up and see Danny's face. I reach out to it and his hand takes mine. "Get to Lyoko, I can help you there." Something flows into me and the pain shooting through my nerves lessons and he disappears. I answer the phone and slowly, stand up.

"W-west side of town...alleyway off Perrowville street...hurry.." I say painfully and take a few steps forward. My clothes are soaked in blood, how the hell am I still moving? Can't I die in peace at least? William's voice answers me and we have a small conversation over the phone while I try to make it to manhole covering our sewage tunnels.

I can see it...just ahead of me. William jumps out of it and I grab onto a tree. He turns and I fall forward into his arms. He says something that I can't make out, and I point to the sewer.

"Lyoko...I need to get there.." I say. First stop dying, then kick some ass and save your friends. Sounds like a plan. William says something else, something about a hospital, and I shake my head. I try to stand up and move towards it, but I fall again.

Finally he picks me up and manages to get us both down the ladder. I let my head rest on my chest as I focus on a plan instead of the raging pain in my shoulder, stomach, and hand. At the end of the tunnel we meet Jeremy who exclaims words I don't understand upon seeing me. They take me through the factory and soon William sets me down in a scanner.

Something happens in the scanner, it's hijacked and I hear Jeremy's voice through the mic. Waves of energy flow over me as I'm scanned and virtual codes melt into my clothes. I'm lifted up and feel my wounds healing. My hair is pulled back into something and I hold my hands above my head as my clothes twist with the codes and turn into something different.

My feet touch the ground again and I open my eyes as the scanner doors open. I see William up against the ladder as electricity spikes through the cords. Xana. Danny. He saved me, he healed me. I now stand with a section of the back of my hair tied into a ponytail, and the rest hanging loose, with bangs loosely covering my forehead. I have white socks up to an inch below my knees and a black pair of shoes. I have a beige jacket with buttons down the middle with blueish black cuffs and collar.

A black skirt falls to right above my knee and I recognize the outfit as the uniform I had to wear at the school I used to go to. The school I was at when Jane used me for her experiment. Nice choice, Danny. William stares at me surprised and I walk over to him.

"Sorry about that. Now, let's go kick some ass and save our friends." I say and climb up the ladder.

* * *

***Whistles innocently* What? we're all good right? Almost? Well they still have to figure out a plan, possibly recruit some others, execute plan successfully, and escape and with out alerting the cops. Idk, maybe they will alert the cops, why not at this point right?**

**Person on bus: 'But officer I shot her in the side! She should be dead...'**

**Officer: 'You did what?'**

**Person on bus: 'Eeeehhhh'**

**Astrid: 'Seeee! He's crazy! And a murderer!'**

**I think we all know how that would go. It seems like Astrid is fully convinced that Danny is Xana, but is that really the case? More imminent issues, will Odd go all program like Astrid? Welp enough cooking things up! I really hope you enjoyed this one and please have a good evening! Thank you my lovely readers!**


	15. Chapter 15

**_*_Not entirely checked for mistakes! Actually it was but my computer disconnected when I saved and I just couldn't go through it again. Will be checked through later though! (probably)***

_I don't like this, I'm starting to cry._

_Please stay here, stay with me._

_If you leave I'll never forgive myself!_

* * *

**Alright! Ready for part 2 of this little...thing that's going on? I don't know how else to describe it! Anywho so after this chapter I wanna get some opinions from you guys if you don't mind. How many of you actually read these long notes, and would you rather they be shortened up? Cause I honestly have no idea, I just like to think that I'm chatting with you guys when I write these! **

**There's another question that I have for you, would it be better if these chapters were shorter? I make them long so things can be wrapped up in less chapters, but I'm wondering if it would be easier to read if they're shorter?**

**So input on that would be greatly appreciated! Just message me or throw it in a review or something, thanks a bunch! As always I really hope you enjoy this chapter as I enjoyed writing it! I'm sorry for the delay but ya know how life is, always getting in the way!**

**Without further ado (Is that even how it's spelled? I don't have time to check so we'll hope for the best!): **

* * *

The teachers at Kadic academy didn't know what to do, two of their students had just been kidnapped. Meanwhile two more of them had disappeared, and three of them hadn't come back from going out previously in the day. The strangest thing was each one of the staff, especially Jim, could've sworn they felt deja vu about the whole situation.

They called the police, but even they couldn't find where these kids had gone. The entire school was talking about it, and they locked the school down and kept students in their classrooms in case whoever took Ulrich Stern and Yumi Ishiyama came back for more. What the hell were they going to tell their parents!?

* * *

Yumi's POV

My phone beeped while I was in the car, but I crushed it under my shoe before the person in the front seat could take it. It was from Odd, something about room numbers. He must've been taken by these creeps too! I try my hardest to open the door or break the window, maybe alert someone outside, but it was no use. The only time I could open the door was when we arrived at wherever they've taken me.

I step out of the car and immediately put my foot on the car handle and back flip onto the top of the car. They weren't expecting that one, but when I look around, neither am I. I'm in a dirty alleyway, with random closed down shops and stands, and lots of trash scattered everywhere.

"Hm, nice place you got, but I'm afraid I can't stay long!" I say and people gather around the car. Two of them are big, bulky men in suits and the rest of them have lab coats on. These... they look like normal people! So what are they doing kidnapping kids? "Sayonara!" I yell and jump onto the heads of several people before I'm on the ground again and running away.

The bang of a gun shot startles me and I run even faster, seeing bricks on the wall of a building I pass explode makes me scream. Xana, definitely right? Who else would be behind this. My phone is done, and I have no idea where I am. I round a corner and keep going out of the alley, huh? A sign catches my eye and I stop for a moment before seeing several of them chasing me. Perrowville...I've been down here before.

It's just a normal street, but nobody is out today. Usually there are plenty of people around here! Suddenly a door opens in front of me and I'm pulled into a shop by my elbow. I began to protest but I stop when I see white hair and feel arms my neck. Astrid!

"You're okay!" We both say at the same time and I catch my breath when she lets go. Looking around I see William and Jeremy here too. Only thing is...Williams holding a frying pan? He looks out the door and opens it when a woman runs up...and swings it in her face. Ouch.

"Oh hey that one shot me." Astrid muses looking at the person on the ground. Two other men are soon taken down by William: Master of frying pans and he closes and locks the door.

"They shot you?" I exclaim looking her over. Wow she's wearing a skirt! Where'd she get that?

"Long story, for now, we need to get inside the underground base they have. They would've dragged you in there, but how did you escape?" She asks and I shrug. I'm more concerned about William's frying pan, but whatever.

"I'm a Lyoko warrior, naturally I jumped on the car an used their heads as stepping stones." I say and she cracks a grin. Jeremy types away on his laptop and William turns on a light to reveal us standing in a restaurant. Ah, that's where the frying pan came from...

"Right now we're above a corner of the hallway systems. I can't find anything else, but I'll wager every building around her has some type of entryway into their base." Jeremy says and I look around the place.

"Shouldn't there be...people here?" I ask, it's so spooky...

"Yeah, some of them felt my frying pan." William says and I smirk at him.

"We think the people here must all work for Jane, every single person on the block. That's why all the people look so normal." Astrid explains "It's a pretty small block but it must've taken years to carry out."

"Why? What's going on?" I ask and remember the name Jane from that woman who experimented on Astrid, is this the same Jane? She explains to me that her goal seems to be to run the same experiment on all of us. She would go so much just to try it again...she must be planning something further in the future.

"Since I escaped from them they'll probably be harsher on Ulrich." I say and look at everyone with my chin up. "So? What's the plan?" I asks and Jeremy clears his throat.

"This area of buildings are very old, so underneath each one is a bomb shelter from World War II, or at least disguised as one. Jane's base is built off of theses to make all of them connect in a series of hallways and rooms." Jeremy explains and I nod, understanding the gist of it.

"So we enter through one of the old shelter's and make our way through to get Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita." I conclude and look at Jeremy with a raised eyebrow. "How do you even know all of this?"

"We got one of the guards to talk." William says flipping his frying pan and Astrid smirks. Okay, right. We'll discuss that one later. "Do you think we should split up? Me and Yumi, Astrid and Jeremy?" He says and I immediately cut a look to Jeremy. He's coming with?

"I don't think you should come with us Einstein, you don't have much experience with this stuff." I say and he frowns and open his mouth to say something, but Astrid gets there first.

"Jeremy, you can't come. I think...I think Jane wants you the most, or at least she should." We all stare at her surprised and she bites her lip. "The reason she's come after the Lyoko warriors is easy to understand, we spend time virtualized in Lyoko, so there might be a higher chance that one of us would survive the Implantation. You, however, don't go on Lyoko, but you run the whole show. You know programs like the back of your hand, you're a genius at the computer."

"So he's practically already a program?" William asks and Jeremy shrugs. Although, it's not like he can't do anything else.

"Astrid they need to have power to do whatever it is they're doing right? What of Jeremy find a way to cause a power outage?" I say and she looks at me with shining eyes.

"That's brilliant!" She exclaims and Jeremy looks thoughtful.

"I'll get on it, but you three better get down there fast! We don't know how much time we have." He says and I look first at William then to Astrid.

"Let's do this then." I say and we head to the back of the shop, and spot a door in the back of the kitchen. William knocks the lock off with the frying pan and Astrid and I pull the heavy door open.

* * *

Astrid's POV

We run through the halls, but pull back just as someone's about to pass. William hits her head with the frying pan and I grab her ID, hat, and lab coat. Sorry, but you guys are trying to turn my friends into programs. The worst you'll get is a bad headache. W shove her into the nearest unlocked room.

"We should split up." I conclude and slip on the lab coat and shove my hair into the hat. Disguises...hey it might work for a bit. William and Yumi give me a dubious look and I roll my eyes. "Yeah I know, it's always a bad idea but we're short on time right now. I'm sure we'd feel it when they conduct the experiment, it takes a lot of energy, so I think it's still okay. Still, I'm going to go try to shut it down period."

"We'll go get Odd, Aelita, and Ulrich then." Yumi concludes and puts a hand on my arm. "Be careful, okay?" She says with tight, worried eyes and I nod.

"Hey, I'm more worried about you guys right now. If you find everyone then get out of here." I say and clip on the ID to the inside of the jacket. I find a pen and a notepad in a jacket pocket. I write down a few numbers and emails, old friends from before. "Here. If...if anything happens where you can't go home tonight, call these people." I say and Yumi takes the paper with shaking hands.

"Good luck." Yumi says and I nod.

"Astrid, don't do anything dangerous." William says and I shrug.

"What could go wrong?" I ask and back away. "See you later." I wave and then turn around and walk casually down the hall. What's going to happen? Who knows? Someone passes me but I keep a straight face and move forward. He doesn't say anything and inside I breath a sigh of relief.

Eventually I see a bunch of people gathered around the outside of one room, with glass windows. I narrow my eyes and slow to a calm stop, only to feel my heart almost leap out of my chest when I get a look inside.

"This will be the first test of the evening. Subject name is Odd Dellarobia. Although he is not as compatible with the procedure as other possibilities, certain circumstances require us to make us with what we have." Jane says almost with humor in her voice and a few people chuckle.

Odd glares at them from behind the second layer of glass that peeks into the Implantation room. It doesn't look exactly like before, but it's pretty damn close. Odd's hands arms are secured to two metal plates by chains, and the one thing that stands out as different is the platform that he stands on. I look around for a way to get in, and spot a second door that isn't crowded, but is connected to the next room.

I slowly edge over and open the door to the room next to that one. Inside are at least fifteen adults looking at stats on computers that are lined upon two long tables. Several people turn their heads but I walk over to an empty computer and sit down. They look away and I sigh softly. I turn on the computer and then reach behind it, spotting a bunch of wires that lead to an outlet on the wall. I grab it and jerk, pulling the cords out of all the computers on that table and walking with them to the door with the light switch. I get an idea and slam my fist over it to turn off the lights.

Oh shit...here I was thinking it would be pitch black and I could sneak into the next room all cool like, but the computer screens illuminate the room. I stare at the people who stand up. "What the hell?" a few yell, "You little bitch!" Others say.

"Uh...rage quit ya know?" I say softly as a few people advance on me. "Honestly though, I was just gonna plug it in but I saw a spider and... ah fuck it." I roll onto the floor, avoiding one man trying to grab me. I jump onto one of the tables and pull the cord for that row of tables. Someone grabs me and pulls me down, and I punch and kick wildly trying to get away. There's just too many of them for me to win this fight.

The door opens and Jane looks in with a shocked expression. Two of the adults hold my arms back and shove me in front of her. The hat falls off and my silver hair falls around my face again. Jane looks at me with excited and surprised eyes.

"That disguise didn't last very long.." I grumble and Jane waves a hand and the two adults let go of me. She looks disdainfully in the room at the mess I made, and I shrug and cross my arms. "Slight malfunction." I comment and she snorts. The adults are already halfway done with fixing it and I growl at how useless I'm being.

"You certainly made a mess, didn't you." She puts a hand on my shoulder and leads me into the room with Odd and the onlookers. I look at Odd and he widens his eyes when he sees me. "You also stole this from someone here? You have been rebellious haven't you?" The people watching look at me closely and I take my eyes off of Odd to glare at them. "Oh, say hello to the audience. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Astrid Hax. She is the first and so far only successful subject."

"Let Odd go. Now." I say shortly and swat her arm off my shoulder. I notice a few of the people watching scratch something down on a clipboard.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Our investors here need a proper example before we debut this program to the government." Jane says and I clench my hand. No, she can't do this. Nobody aside form these crazy people would actually be okay with doing this to kids! I look to Odd with a desperate and frighten gaze. We stare at each other for a second before he grins. My heart flutters and I turn back to Jane.

"I can't let you do that, not to him." I say and she dismisses my protest with a wave of my hand. One of the men in suits that she always has around her grabs me. I glare at her and then at the people. "Are you aright with this!? Kidnapping children against their will!?" I exclaim and make eye contact with a man wearing a medical face mask. The man holding me puts a hand over my mouth to stop me from speaking.

"We'll be starting now, Astrid don't do anything rash." Jane says and I look back to Odd and Jane signals for it to commence. "Behold! A new evolution of humans, redefining life as we know it!" I don't take my eyes off Odd as someone starts it. The energy starts to collect in the chamber he's in and before he's hidden behind it he says something. I can't hear it, but I can see his lips move.

Not Odd. He has so much ahead of him. He has a family waiting for him, _I'm_ waiting for him! It's my fault. If I had never led Jane to them, this never would've happened. I bite the hand of the man and struggle out of his hold long enough to yell a response. I think of grinning even in a situation like this, just to cheer me up. I think of him jumping into the lake to save me, and his worried face over me. I think of how he got jealous when the clone kissed William. I think of the first day I met him, the way we both stared at each other. He's gotten taller since, maybe one day he'll be taller than me. If he survives.

"I like you too!"

* * *

William's POV ((**We're gonna try something a bit different. I'm not sure if I've ever used third person for anyone but I will now.**))

He quite likes the frying pan, he thinks it suits him. What he doesn't like, though, is Astrid leaving them. The way she left made him feel like something bad was going to happen to her. Eventually he and Yumi make it around to the hallway where Odd and Aelita were supposed to be. William doesn't really know what to think, about this whole situation that is.

It's all been happening so fast, the huge reality of it didn't hit him until Astrid gave Yumi the contact information. _'If anything were to happen'_... What does she mean by that? These people are trying to hurt to hurt his friends, and although he hasn't always been on the greatest terms with everyone- it would be devastating for any of them to get hurt.

"I'll take the guards on the left, you take the ones on the right." Yumi says to him and he nods, flipping the frying pan in his hand. Several minutes later, he dug a key out of the pockets of a man guarding the doors. Yumi flipped a man onto the ground and joined him seconds later when he open the room 36b. Nothing, Odd's not in here!

They're both silent for a few seconds before Yumi snatches the key form his hand and marches directly across the hall. He clenches his fists, thinking of how he'd ruffle Odd's hair sometimes. What if the next time he does it the hair being ruffled is flat and silver, like Astrid's? Not that her hair is bad, but the reality of what it represents strikes him every time he looks at her.

"Yumi! You came!" Aelita's voice snaps him out of his thoughts and he turns around and sees Aelita hugging onto Aelita. He sighs, happy to see she's okay but turns someone is dragged around the corner by two big men in suits. Those guys are everywhere, aren't they? The boy being dragged looks at them and they run to help him.

"Ulrich!" Yumi exclaims and jump kicks one of the men before the can even think about defending themselves. He punches the other one and Ulrich is released, soon to join the two in their butt kicking. Aelita walks up and hangs around the edge of the fight, and soon it's over with the four of them bolting away from the scene.

"We've gotta really move ya know?" Ulrich says and William rolls his eyes.

"Astrid and Odd are still here, I think they were bringing him to be experimented on!" Aelita says and they all share a worried look while running down the hallways, hardly any different from time on Lyoko.

Just as they stop to discuss some kind of strategy for when, or if, but no one cared to mention, they find Odd and Astrid- the lights flicker off and an eerie silence falls around them. Nothing in the pitch black hallway gives them any light, and the group reaches around for each other, spooked by the sudden change.

"What happened?" Aelita asks and Yumi gasps with a realization.

"It's Jeremy! He must've managed to shut the power off!" She exclaims and Williams pumps a fist in the air.

"Nice! That buys us a lot of time, right?" He says right before the lights turn back on, and a hum of new machinery sounds through the hallways. Back up generator? How inconvenient.

Okay... so not as much time as they previously thought. Without another word, the team moves on to try and find their friends, before time runs out again.

* * *

Astrid's POV

A thousand voices rose up at once, Jane's hardly being effective of calming the potential investors down. I take the chance few seconds of confusion to break away from the man that hold me back. In the pitch black hands are flying everywhere trying to fix what just happened, and I just send thanks up to whoever is looking out for us- never mind, I take it back.

The lights turn back on and red sirens fly everywhere in the room, myself all but ignored as I desperately try to open the locked door to Odd. Some of the investors watch with scared eyes, and others are in full blown panic. Several of them, however, are calm as if they expected something to go wrong. One of those is the same man that was wearing that mask.

"The subject's condition is unknown, all contact was lost with the power loss." A woman in a lab coat says urgently and I snap my head to her.

"Do something!" Jane and I yell at the same time and I growl. No! Why does this have to happen?!

Taking deep breaths I listen as the experts list off the stats and growing concerns. I look into the energy filled room, it looks as if it's filled with smoke. I wonder if he can even breath?

"Unlock the door." I demand and glare daggers at Jane. She looks at me with narrowed eyes and I pound a fist against the door. "Open it or I'll break it myself dammit!" I yell this time and she lifts her chin, to proceed to nod to the investors.

"Step out of the room and close the door, please." She says calmly and then nods to a man typing furiously on a computer at the lab station. You'd think they were sending someone to the moon, there were so many buttons. "Open it."

"But miss, that could bring potential harm to all of us in this room." The man says, pausing his typing but she shakes her head and whispers something to him. My breathing grows heavier and I suddenly feel like I could fulfill my earlier promise. The man types away a command and I hear the door click.

Immediately, I enter the room and feel the energy spark at my presence. I close the door quickly and feel the energy cloud sticking to me as I rush to where Odd is. He's lying on the ground, his restraints snapped, and thankfully still sporting his blonde hair. Before I reach him the collecting of the energy grows and weighs me down.

What is this stuff? It seems almost alike to the black smoke that Xana travels in when outside the super computer. I move my hand slowly through it and suddenly an idea forms in my head. I can't let all of this go back to Jane, maybe I could contain it somehow? After all it already seems to be sticking to me.

'Hang in there, Odd" I say softly and hold out my hand palm up, thinking about how I felt when I virtualized myself. I imagine the subtle timbre the power I used seem to have, and try to recreate it. Come on weird energy smoke stuff, collect in my hand. After a few seconds of major focus, I feel the energy shift and suddenly it all snaps to the center of my hand. The room is crystal clear as a bright light from the concentration of energy forces me to look away.

Seconds later a crystal forms in my hand from the condensation of energy and I shove it in my pocket, only to fall to my knees next to Odd. Not caring about anything outside this small testing room, I shake his shoulder gently. Please...please be alright!

"Odd...come on please wake up." I murmur and watch as his chest softly rises and falls. No time for sleeping beauty, we've gotta bounce. I slide an arm under his shoulders and begin to lift him up, prepared to carry him out of this labyrinth one way or another, when he coughs and opens his eyes. "Odd!"

He looks at me confused for a second but then grins. "Good morning," He says hoarsely as he sits up and I hug him fiercely. "Ladies, ladies let my vision come back into to focus cause there are currently three Astrids right now." he says and I pull back, relieved tears sparking at my eyes.

"I thought you'd...I was so scared you weren't going to come back." I say sniffling but smile at him.

"Ah yes, focus regained. You were kinda cute when you looked at me like the world was going to end." He says jokingly but I can see something deeper in his eyes. I take his hand and he squeezes mine.

"If it never saw you again...it would've." I whisper and he drops his grin and looks at me seriously, but gently too. "Odd, I-" I break off and let my face be serious too, wondering how I would've lived with myself if he wasn't alright. Instead of saying anything more I lean in and tilt my head a bit, pressing my lips against his.

My free hand moves to his cheek and I gently hold his head as he returns the kiss slowly to me, savoring every second of it. His hand drifts to my waist and I wonder how I thought I would've been able to carry him. He's really gained some muscle recently. We pull away fro the kiss and take deep breaths.

After a few moments of shared eye contact I stand up and offer him a hand. He takes it and together we face the window that shows us a peek of the enemy we have to face, and the closed door that we have to open to get there. If we don't make it out of here after this...

at least we got a kiss.

* * *

**Wow this one was a long time coming, lemme tell you that. For a while I was beginning to wonder if there was gonna be any romance at all! Hold up...no I knew, it was you guys that were wondering right? Well don't worry, I am so excited because starting next chapter there will be a lot more kisses coming up! Thank you my lovely readers! Please tell me what you think and have a wonderful evening!**


	16. Chapter 16

_I have found my place._

_I will defend it and the ones of those around me._

_To the end of my days may it be my duty._

* * *

**So it's been a little bit yeah? Hopefully not too long. There's gonna be a whole bunch of OC's introduced in this chapter, but don't worry there'll be plenty of our usual gang too. I don't think I'm ever gonna do any POV's of this new OC group...well never say never but it doesn't sound any fun really. **

**Anyway, I had a ton of fun writing this one so I hope you enjoy it! Thank you!**

* * *

Odd's POV

No ordinary person would consider this an amazing day, but I'm not really and ordinary guy. Despite nearly being used as a tool for who knows what hellish things that woman planned, I kissed Astrid. Therefore it's all totally worth it.

We walk out of the testing chamber, I'll have to ask Astrid later about how she got in, I couldn't really see. She pulls off the lab coat she's wearing and I raise an eyebrow, where'd she get that outfit? Frankly I could use a brief on almost everything about this situation, but I guess that'll have to be after we get out of this place. I roll up my sleeves and clench my fists, expecting to have to punch our way out. Instead, when we look around Jane is being confronted by several of the investors.

I share a glance with Astrid and we quickly walk over when one man of three pulls out a leather wallet, and opens it to show a badge to Jane. He wears a face mask, the one you can wear to avoid sickness, but he rips it off. "You are under arrest," He says and Jane curses.

"You don't understand, I have connections-" She starts to say hastily, but is interrupted by another man. They look to all be in their twenties, all three of them. I relax a bit, thinking that while we should still get out of here quickly, we don't have to worry about her anymore. As a contrast, beside me Astrid stiffens and tenses up, clenching her fist and narrowing her eyes.

"Your connections are also under arrest. Let's get her out of here." The other man says and the third one signals to some of the other investors in the crowd. Three police push past the crowd of them. While a couple of the investors look tense, the others are sighing with relief.

"You can't! This is my life's work!" Jane says as one of the police puts her in hand cuffs. I nudge Astrid with my elbow, but she doesn't look away from the scene. Jane is pulled out, along with the gorillas in suits that she must've hired. The crowd of people starts to disperse, some of them leave and some of them move to go look over the control panels.

The three men that confronted Jane talk quietly to each other. One has shaggy black hair, with sky blue eyes that match the tie he's wearing with his white button up shirt. Another one has dark brown hair, along with a lightish brown skin tone. The final one, the one that was wearing a face mask, has lighter brown hair, kinda like Ulrich's. He has green eyes and takes a deep breath before looking over at us.

Astrid grabs my elbow and drags me away, ignoring my protests as I hopped on one foot in an effort not to fall down. "Wait," The one with brown hair says, but Astrid opens the door to the connecting room and pulls me through it with her. "Wait!" She slams the door behind her and lets go of my elbow, but grabs my hand instead. I study her face for a second in the dark room, illuminated only by the glow of several computers.

The soft blue casts shadows around the empty room. They must've cleared everyone out, I remember seeing a lot of people in here before they shoved me in the chamber. "Astrid?" I say softly and she takes a deep breath and gives me a small smile, despite the obvious pain that follows behind like a small child. Needing her constant attention to be able to survive, it learns from her and grows up, hoping one day to turn into something more than a burden.

"I'm sorry...it's just hard seeing him." She says and I recognize what must've happened. They're people from before her coma, the people she used to be friends with. I squeeze her hand and give her a big grin.

"Let's get out of here then. We've gotta get Aelita first." I say and this time she grins. "Or you've already gotten her, I see how it is." She sighs and this time I pull her to the door, but when I open it the light brown haired man is standing outside it.

"Astrid look- Oh..." He starts quickly, but breaks off when he's face to face with me instead of Astrid.

* * *

Ulrich's POV

The four of us search the near empty halls until we find a door that scarcely hides the sound of machinery behind it. Not exactly what we were looking for, but...when opportunity strikes...

"You know, it sounds like that back-up generator is probably behind here." I say and raise an eyebrow at William. He nods in understanding but Yumi puts a hand on her hip.

"We should find Astrid and Odd as soon as possible." She says and Aelita giggles.

"But how nice would it be to really stop them? You know for more than a few seconds." Aelita says and I'm already opening the door when I see the look on Yumi's face, already knowing it means she'll agree. When we look inside, a bunch of strange looking machinery roars, and two woman turn to look at us.

Yumi, William, and I step in front of Aelita, and William hefts that ridiculous frying pan. Before any fighting breaks out, though, one of the woman with brown hair points at us. "Wow it's those kids! Who knew they can really take care of themselves! Come in here and help us with this will ya?" She says loudly and the other woman shakes her head.

"Look at what you're saying, they don't know who we are Gwen." She says and looks over us. "I am impressed though. Get in here before others see you." Aelita shuts the door behind us, and we look at the ladies suspiciously.

"Right well, I'm with this detective agency, we've been after this case for over a decade ya know." Gwen says and turns around, making herself busy with the machinery. "Basically, we're on you're side. I'm tryna' get this thing to stop working, to make it easier on the boys."

The other lady rolls her eyes. "By boys she means the other three men working on this case. From the looks of it three of you are still in the fray yeah? Well the boys will take care of them." She says reassuringly and Yumi sighs.

"Let me help you." William offers and walks over to Gwen. I join him and look around for a wrench or something.

"We've heard a lot about you guys. It's all on the news, the kids that have gone missing, but we knew that that woman was looking for you guys before today." The other woman says and I snag a wrench from under a bench.

"I'm Yumi,"

"Aelita, nice to meet you."

"I'm Jessica, call me Jess." She says and I glance back at her, both of the ladies look to be in their middle twenties. William nudges me and I hand him the wrench.

"This'll do." He says and Gwen raises an eyebrow.

"What're you gonna do with that?" She asks and William starts looking around the machinery some more, I think we both got the same idea.

"Wait, are you Gwen Anderson?" Aelita asks and Gwen nods, turning away from the machinery to look at Aelita. "Astrid told me a bit about you once...though she said in your email you said you were..."

"Oh, pregnant? Well I just kinda made a smidge of a lie about that. I thought that if I put interesting things in there she might respond to me. She's a tough nut to crack, that's for sure." Gwen says and William chucks the wrench somewhere into a machine and it grinds to a stop.

"Nice job...but that's only one of them." Yumi says and I look at Jessica, who's been quiet for a bit.

"Astrid's here too huh? You four should go find her, we'll get along just fine by ourselves here." Jessica says and I nod.

"She's right." I say and we all move to leave.

"Wait a sec, so you kids are friends with her?" Gwen asks, after marveling at Williams handy work with the wrench. We all nod and she smiles. "That's good." She turns her back again and Jessica sighs. "The main place should be somewhere that way!" She adds, pointing in a vague direction to the left.

"Thanks" Yumi says as we leave and we hurry through the halls again. We all freeze when we see the woman Jane being pulled away by several policemen. That means Odd and Astrid must be okay! That or arrested too. I smirk at the sight of Jane kicking the guards, screaming protests like a little kid. Serves her right.

We keep going and eventually we see two very familiar figures turn a corner and scarmbling right into us.

* * *

Odd's POV

"'Scuse us!" I say loudly before pushing past him and Astrid pushes along with me, keeping her head bent down away from him. We pass the other two as we move down the hallway but our pace doesn't even slow for them. I glance back, catching the brown haired one run his hand through his hair. We turn the corner and collide with a whole group of people.

Astrid gets tackled by Aelita and Ulrich gives me a shove before Yumi pulls me into a hug. William ruffles my hair and I laugh. Yumi hugs Astrid and Aelita looks me over. "I'm fine, I'm fine." I say grinning at her worried face. "Don't tell me you didn't think I'd get out of there, princess?"

"Yeah right, like Astrid didn't do all the work for you!" Yumi says and everyone, even me, laughs.

"You should've seen the fight that woman was putting up!" William says and Yumi laughs.

"Who would've thought Jane would get arrested? I mean of course it makes sense, but why now?" Aelita and Astrid shrugs.

"You mean why didn't we catch her until just now, when she obviously needed time to prepare all this." The light brown haired man says and everyone turns to stare at him. Aelita shifts a bit, looking uncomfortable at the sight of the men. "The answer is complicated, we needed solid evidence to get her with all of her connections. We just didn't think we'd let it go this far, things got out of hand. I'm sorry you kids were put in danger." He says and Astrid sniffs.

"That's great but we should be leaving now." Astrid says stiffly and the man frowns. Yumi puts a protective hand on Astrid's shoulder.

"Actually, it'd be best if we brought you back to your school. As of right now you're still missing kids. The police are looking everywhere for you." The man with dark brown hair says and I notice the look in Astrid's eyes soften a bit. "You kids can call me Toby."

We all say hello, kind of awkwardly but hey there are circumstances where it's alright to be awkward. "I'm Jimmy." The one with tannish hair says and everyone looks at the last one.

"Alex!" A woman's voice yells from behind us and we turn to see two women running towards us.

"Gwen? Where have you been?" The dude apparently named Alex responds. The one apparently named Gwen stops in her tracks with the other one and points back down the hall they came from.

"We were tampering with the generator! Let's just say we need to get out of here fast...like before the thing-" She's cut off by the loud sound of an explosion and the whole structure of the hallways shaking. The fire alarm goes off and sprinklers start spraying water on us.

"blows up." The other women finishes with and exasperated tone.

"Let's go." Astrid says and everyone nods.

"What about the others here?" Ulrich asks but Alex holds up a hand.

"We'll make sure everyone leaves, we have plenty of time." Alex says and he, Jimmy, and Toby turn around and start running down the halls. I take Astrid's hand and she gives me a smile.

We soon find the exit and the eight of us run out of the maze of hallways. I start laughing, happy to be out of there, and not to be part computer. Ulrich joins me along with Yumi, and then we're all laughing. Gwen and that other woman give us strange looks, but we stop abruptly when another explosion racks the ground. Toby, Jimmy, and Alex run out of the building with a group of adults.

"That should be everyone, but we need to get away from here." Jimmy says and one of the men with them nods.

"The tunnels are on fire, and we don't know how much down there is really going to blow." The man says and Astrid stiffens.

"Oh my god." She mumbles and I raise an eyebrow.

"Someone call Jeremy." Ulrich says realizing what she means but she shakes her head. She points to a pair of glasses that lay right outside the door way in the old rustic alleyway that we're in. I feel the urge to throw up when I realize that he could be inside still.

* * *

Astrid's POV

I turn around and spot one of the workers from the place looking particularly nervous. I stalk over to her and she stares wide eyed at me. Maybe I look absolutely furious, but truthfully I'm light years beyond that.

"You know." I say as she gulps.

"If you mean that blonde kid, we took him to one of the holding rooms before those men took Romina out." I recognize Romina as Jane's last name and immediately turn and run to the open door. A hand grabs my arm, stopping me, and I turn to see Alex holding onto me.

"Let me go!" I say and he narrows his eyes, I see symphathy in them, but also determination.

"No, it's too dangerous, we've got to wait until the firemen we called come." He says and I look to each of my old friends blocking the way for the group to run in. "None of us can go in."

"I'm not afraid, 'cause I can't die." Not like this anyway. He raises his eyebrows and I kick him in the great weak spot of mankind. He loosens his grip and I pull my arm out of his grip and run into the smoky hallways. Lots of voices call out to me, but they shouldn't be worried. At this point Jeremy is much more important.

A piece of the ceiling falls down in front of me as I run through the halls, my heart pounding. "Jeremy!" I scream out, hoping to get an answer. Please Jeremy, you've gotta be okay.

Suddenly, as I'm running through the halls and calling his name, I realize something. The fear of him dying eats at my stomach, just like it does for everyone else, but now they have to worry about me too. For a minute there, as I ran in here, I didn't think to imagine the kind of worry I must've caused Odd. Odd and Aelita and Yumi and Ulrich and William... Jimmy, Toby, Gwen, Jess, and Alex too.

A burning wooden pillar falls down on top of me and I scream. Trying to push it up, I pant and breath in smoke. I can't die...but it's sure gonna be a pain in the ass for the others to come and get me out of here, and then get me to the scanners. I can't believe I thought for a second that I don't matter to them.

Of course I do. Just the same as they matter so much to me.

A large grunt startles me as someone pulls the pillar off of me. I gasp and see Ulrich there breathing heavily. "You...have got to stop being so reckless." He says and helps me up.

"Thank you." I say and he smiles.

"Come on, we've got to get Einstein out of here quickly." He responds and I nod. Together we weave through the collapsing, burning hallways, calling out for Jeremy. Eventually we hear a response and we follow his voice.

We move out of the burning section of the hallways, even though it's spreading fast, we outrun it easily. When we get to the door he's behind Ulrich and I kick it down together, revealing Jeremy being relatively unharmed. I hug him and Ulrich joins us.

"Do you think there's some place we can get out of here, like that restaurant?" I ask him, wondering how much of a scope he got. He shrugs as we move through the hallways more calmly since we've gotten out of the fire and brimstone part.

"I'm not sure, we can try. It's probably better than going back the way you came." Jeremy says, noting with a nod of his head that Ulrich and I are covered in scrapes, ash, and red skin. I've got a few burns, but they aren't bad, I swear.

"How'd you even get away from them, Ulrich?" I ask and he laughs in a very Ulrich like way.

"Please, we're Lyoko warriors...basically we all fought back and I managed to run through. They blocked the door way after that, though." He explains and I nod.

"Oh, I know! I think I remember where we are now! The entrance from the restaurant should be right around here." I say but scream when something in a door to our left explodes. Ulrich and Jeremy grab me so I don't hit the ground after stumbling from the shock and they drag me forward. "I'm good." I say and they let go of me and we run forward as a new fire starts. I point to a door and we kick it down again.

We move through the room, walk up a small staircase, and burst into the restaurant. After sharing a group high five, we quickly move out of the restaurant and watch as a fire truck speeds quickly past us down the road. I sigh and point down the street to indicate where we should go to find the others.

"Thank you, you two." Jeremy says suddenly and I grin and hug him again, overjoyed that he's alive. He laughs and I squeeze a bit before letting go.

Right as we turn the corner, I pat Ulrich's shoulder and wink. "That was by far the _worst_ barbeque joint I have _ever_ been to!" I exclaim loudly, seeing Odd, Yumi, Aelita, and William farther down in the alley. They turn around and Ulrich snorts.

"When they said it was hands on- I never expected this!" He joins in but I see Aelita running to me and for the second time today she tackles me in a hug. I laugh loudly as she sternly glares at me. Yumi makes a motion to strangle all three of us but ends up laughing and soon we're all laughing as hard as I ever have in a huge group hug.

I wipe tears away and watch as Aelita latches onto Jeremy and even kisses him on the cheek. I hug Odd and, now that we're safe, smile and lean in close again. This time he makes the move and kisses me, pulling me close. We pull away quickly and eventually our laughter dies and I look to up to see a group of very menacing looking adults.

"Oh my." Yumi mumbles and Alex barges past the group and points at me.

"You could've gotten yourself killed!" He says loudly and probably would've continued with something more if Gwen didn't just shove him out of the way. Jess walks up behind her and the group steps away as Gwen and Jess stare at me.

"Look at you, how do you even still have that uniform?" Gwen says with tears in her eyes. My throat closes up and I would give anything to be anywhere but here. Do I really have to do this? Can't I just pretend I never knew you and I can get on with my life? I mentally slap myself, but it's true it would be so much easier.

Thankfully, I don't have to respond because someone with a camera waves us down. Oh god...maybe not thankfully. I slip out of the line of fire from Gwen and Jess and stand by Yumi, who holds my hand. She looks at me knowingly and I smile.

Nobody else knows, but we just silently made plans to sit down in my dorm with Aelita and have a super girly heart to heart. Ice cream will probably be included. The person with the camera walks up with a reporter looking person and they ask us a bunch of questions. Most of which are answered by "uhhh...sure?"

Eventually Alex tells us he'll take us back to the school and the seven of us eagerly agree. I could really go with a shower right now...perhaps a change of clothes too. I sigh, feeling my stomach clench again at the sight of Alex's face. So much older...so different and grown up. Gwen and Jess too. They were my best friends, but they didn't come to see me once at the hospital when I woke up.

Toby and Jimmy were good friends too. I remember Toby being the only one that visited me, even if Jimmy sent him with a box of chocolates for me. Just so you know the nurse enjoyed them very much. As we all pile into Alex's car, I realize it can probably fit everyone because it's meant to carry the five of them...plus middle seats.

When we get to the school, it looks as if the entire student body is outside to welcome us. Some of our teachers greet us first and Ulrich's, Jeremy's, Yumi's, and William's parents are there too. They hug them and cry and yell at them and hug them some more. Gushy parent stuff I guess.

Wait, that reminds me...isn't Gwen supposed to be pregnant? I store that away for later as I turn and see my dad standing behind me. He doesn't cry or yell or hug me like the other parents do, but he just nods to me. I hitch a breath as he lightly touches a burn on my face.

"Take care of that." He says and turns around to leave. I watch him go and begin to turn away, but look back as I see him wipe something on his face. His back is to me, so I can't tell, but he might be crying. I smile a bit and turn around and walk to Aelita. She smiles and I hug her again.

Several more reporters walk up but no more ask us any questions. Milly and Tamiya also join and Milly hugs me, causing me to smile. "What happened?" She asks and I share a look with Odd who walks over. His parents live too far away to be here, but he called them using Ulrich's phone.

"That's a very long story, maybe for another time, okay?" Aelita says and they nod.

"Okay, then why are you, Ulrich, and Jeremy covered in battle scars?" Tamiya asks with shining eyes even though she's holding the camera, Milly doesn't complain.

"Err...the building kinda caught on fire a lil' bit." I say and glance over when some reporters start talking about what happened. One points the camera at me and Aelita and Odd burst out laughing at what I can only assume is my expression.

"Two of the kids then ran in after they had already escaped the burning hallways, simply to save their friend. The loyalty between these kids seems to be absolute, and they are very lucky to have all come out from this alive. Let's hope that while the rest of our young people can hopefully avoid danger like this, they carry the same courage and strength as these kids do." The reporter woman says and I glance smugly at Aelita. She sticks her tongue out at me and I give her a look of mock surprise.

She runs away and I chase her, squealing and laughing as we slip and fall down on the grass. Yumi comes over and pulls us both up and I look to see her parents watching and they wave at me. I smile and Yumi turns me aroudn as Jeremy's mom wraps me in a surprise hug. She thanks me, and then Ulrich for saving Jeremy.

Things go on like that for a good half an hour, before the teachers and parents decree that's it's time for a hard earned rest. I start to head inside with Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremy when Alex touches me on the shoulder. I turn around and breath a sigh of relief when the others wait for me.

"Listen, we need to talk but...it can wait a while. For now, the government and detective agencies are going to want to hear what really happened. I'll try to stall them all I can but-" He starts but I cut him off.

"I refuse to let them know what I really. That project should die today, like it should've died twelve years ago." I say whispering and he sighs, giving me a slight grin. He thinks this is funny? What happened before too?

"I was only going to say that you need to come up with a good story, all of you." He says and I take a deep breath, realizing I'm antagonizing him without all the details. Maybe he's changed from then.

"Yeah...thanks for today." I say rubbing my arms awkwardly and he nods and walks away. I look after him for a few seconds before turning to the others. "Who's ready for a shower? Or a nap?" I ask but the school nurse wags her finger at me.

"You five have direct orders from your parents to be checked over immediately. Especially you two." She says to me and Ulrich. I share a light look with him. It's alright. Maybe being fussed over a bit won't be so bad, heck maybe they'll give us a break from school? Winter break begins next Friday, but before that is exams.

I sigh deeply as we turn to wave goodbye as Yumi and William go home with their parents. Ulrich and Jeremy's parents follow us into the school, and probably won't leave until later. Content, I put my arm around Aelita and she does the same. I wipe away a few tears and realize I'll probably be sobbing later in the dorm with Aelita.

"I'm starving." Odd announces and the five of us burst out into laughter again.

* * *

**Wow, how was that huh? I've got to go back and edit all that...grr. Why can't things just be made perfect the first time? Ah...what a luxury that would be indeed. So I'm debating on what to do next, whether there should be some light fun chapters or not. I'm thinking I might get the older OC gang in on the whole Xana thing. That or I'll bring the skid in so we can get into that part where they can go different places. Definitely gonna be more Lyoko time though, I've been missing that for a while, yeah? Anyway I really hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did writing it! I didn't mean to spend all day on it...whoops! Anyway I'll see you later my lovelies! **


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